Kindling the Fire
by Itaweasel-hime
Summary: This is a sequel to my oneshot 'weaselchan.' Sakura's feelings for Itachi are confusing, and she has yet to discover the small seed Itachi has planted in her. This is rated M for a reason.
1. Chapter 1

**AN: This is important, so please read my note! This is going to be a chapter story, but if you want to read the beginning, it's a oneshot called 'weaselchan.' I had a request to continue the story, so here it is at last!**

**Keep in mind, this story is M for a reason. There will be lemons, so if that isn't your thing, don't read this story.**

**Disclaimer: I'm kicking myself for saying this, but I don't own Naruto. Itachi would never have died if I did.**

It had barely been three days, and yet, there he sat in all of his glory, on her ragged, frayed and ostentatiously red couch. Too many times had she asked Ino or Hinata over for a girl's night, and too many times had the couch been roughly slept on over the years. Yet, he was there, his beauty emanating around her small apartment's living room. She had to wonder how he had gotten inside without even being in possession of a key, but he was Uchiha Itachi after all, this should have been easy for someone of his caliber.

He smirked proudly to himself when he saw her surprise at finding him in her little living room. She must have never expected him to show up in her apartment, and without any forewarning. They had only met at that bar two and a half days ago, and he had already decided to make his appearance in Konoha. He _had_ told her he would find her, and that was exactly what he had done. Perhaps sooner than she had originally anticipated, but Itachi never was one to procrastinate.

Sakura was utterly stunned at seeing him there so soon, but that wasn't to say she was displeased. No, in fact, she felt quite the opposite: she was overjoyed at seeing Itachi so shortly after they had parted. For the past three days, she could do nothing but think of him, and his smothering, dark eyes. The reason, though indirectly, she was home so early from her shift at the hospital was because of those haunting eyes, that seemed to consume her with their deep abyss.

"Itachi." Sakura breathed, still in complete astonishment. She slipped of the white medical coat she had been wearing for her shift and let it descend to the carpeted flooring. He gave her that knowing smirk, one that she could read even if she had only known him for half of a week.

"Sakura." He answered, his smooth tenor melting her into a pile of mush where she stood. How she had missed that lithe voice in those few days, how she had longed for him to whisper her name so placidly into her ear while curling strong arms around her bare body.

There was nothing more to be said at that moment, and the duo knew that instantly. Itachi silently beconed her forward, and she gratefully obeyed his unsaid command without a second thought. He stood to meet her, and much to her satisfaction, he abruptly took her up into his arms. Nothing in that moment could have ruined the joy she felt, and though he did not express it as clearly as she did, he felt the same. Sakura felt complete, and it was only because he was there.

She stood on the tips of her toes to elevate herself just high enough to kiss him. He gladly recieved this gesture, and reciprocated whole heartedly. It was certainly a step up from the sleazy bar they had meet each other in, but Sakura still felt faintly embarrassed at having him in her small, and slightly disorganized apartment. He appeared to pay no heed to her distress, and instead begged her part her lips. Sakura willingly did as he wished, letting him slide his tongue into her mouth.

Their tongues interwound, both fighting for dominance, though already knowing what the outcome would be. She could practically feel his excitement at being with her flowing through him, and was pleased to find him feeling that way. She didn't want to be the only one who felt so absorbed with the other, though she doubted he would have even bothered to come if it had not been so.

Itachi smirked against her lips, throughly elated with her reactions. It made him slightly proud that he could create such a response out of a woman, seeing as this was only his second time at kissing one. Sakura noticed with exuberance how his lips tilted up, and she was unexplainably happy that she had been the cause of such an anomaly. She doubted that anyone else could have caused Itachi to smile at anything, but perhaps she was being boastful.

"I missed you." She whispered when he pulled them apart. He hummed in agreement as he kissed her eyelids one by one. Itachi pressed her into his broad chest and they fell onto the already tattered couch. Lips meeting again, Sakura ran her fingers carefully through his lengthly hair, pulling it out of its tie so that it could cascade over his shoulders and back. She hardly knew what was happening until he was crouched over her, showering her with kisses. Her zipper-up, red top and beige skirt already lay on the floor abandoned, his navy blue shirt next to it.

It was somewhat awkward, with the very limited space of a small couch, and with the fact that they could see each other so clearly this time. It was mid-afternoon, in the bright light of her living room, while last time it had been in the darkness of a back room of a grungy bar. Every roll of his muscular back could be seen, every dip and curve of her hips were visible, neither of them were sure what to do with it.

Without a word, he began to unbuckle her bra strap, only to be interrupted by the sound of a knocking on the front door. Both Itachi and Sakura instinctively froze in place, unsure of what to do. Whatever happened, he couldn't be seen, or there would be a disastrous end to everything, and neither of them wanted that. On a personal note, Itachi didn't want to have to leave her just yet, after only found her a few minutes before.

Their eyes met, and Itachi saw the despair in her emerald orbs. As soon as visitors came, it would mean he had to leave, and she didn't want it to be as so. She was hardly fit to answer the door though, having only a pair of black, elastic shorts on. Resolved in that Itachi wouldn't be leaving so soon after just arriving, Sakura quickly pulled him into her small bathroom, picking up their abandoned clothes as she went. There could be no evidence of his being there, or else he would be discovered and arrested.

He followed her without asking, and watched in amusement as she frantically ran her hair through the water coming from the bathroom sink. It was obvious that she was trying to look as if she had just gotten out of the shower, and so when she finished, he handed her the towel hanging by the tub. The water streamed down her slight bodice, causing her small frame to shiver. Sakura wrapped the towel around her body, and gave Itachi a quick kiss before exiting the bathroom.

"I'll be right back." She whispered, leaving him to his own devices. Itachi sighed, and looked at himself in the bathroom mirror. It was rather complicated, it seemed, if they were planning on being anything more than secret lovers. The way it was then, there could be no commitment, no promises, because neither of them could always be together. That needed to be changed, he decided, running a hand through his bangs to keep them out of his eyes.

Sakura put a glare on her face to give the impression of having just gotten out of the shower, but found it a more difficult task than usual. She was almost too happy to force herself into looking angry, Itachi was there, after all. She threw the door open, finding it to be both Naruto and Kakashi at the door. The copy-nin blinked a few times in shock, and Naruto gasped. Neither of them seemed to have expected her to answer the door in only a towel.

"What?" She growled in aggravation, scrunching the fluffy towel closer to her body, hoping that neither of them would notice the throbbing red marks Itachi had made on her neck just minutes before with his persuasive lips. Wether or not they noticed it, her teammates made no mentions of the kiss marks on her neck, and instead she could see a faint blush on both of their cheeks.

"Sorry Sakura-chan, we didn't know you were in the shower." Naruto muttered, his silent collaborator hiding his face in the pages of the most recent volume of the Icha Icha series. Her eye's narrowed, just as they would if they were in a normal situation. It was hard to stay mad-looking when she had a five-foot-eleven god of a man waiting for her in the bathroom.

"Well, I was. Hurry up and tell me whatever you need to tell me, I wasn't finished yet." Sakura complained, crossing her arms and tapping her foot impatiently. It wasn't a lie to say that she was antsy to get back to her bathroom, but it wasn't for the same reasons that they could suspect. Naruto feverishly nodded his head and did as he was told.

"We're going on a mission tomorrow. Tsunade-baa said it's to look for Sasuke. She got information on his little team, and we're going after them, and maybe we can finally bring him back!" Naruto said excitedly, his sky blue eyes glowing with enthusiasm. Unfortunately for him, Sakura lost interest with what he was saying as soon as he mentioned Sasuke and his wretched exsistance.

"We'll meet at the northern gate at seven sharp tomorrow, I'll debrief you more throughly there." Kakashi told her, his tone dry. Sakura, who had been tuning out the conversation, nodded her head and slammed the door in their faces. Neither of the two men took it as an offense, they were already used to he spitfire personality, and that occurrence wasn't the first when she had finished a conversation by slamming her door shut.

When Itachi was sure that both intervening presences were no longer there, he opened the bathroom door to meet Sakura in the living room. Instead of settling on the couch again, she pulled him into her bedroom, where they could have more roaming leeway on her queen-sized bed. He pulled the blinds shut, consuming the room with darkness, and giving them privacy from anyone who tried to see into the window.

Her towel was soon forgotten, left on the floor in a pile of soft material. All other barriers were then removed by them, his pants and boxers falling in a heap at his ankles, her shorts and underwear being flung across the room. They glided together and to the bed, the tightly fit blankets and comforters wrinkling under their two forms. Lips met, pulling each other in every direction, and once again their tongues fought for domination. As to be expected, Itachi's gained control of hers, and slid around inside of her mouth restlessly.

"What did Naruto-kun and the copy-nin want?" Itachi asked softly into her ear, his lithe tongue gliding down her jawline. She hesitated in answering, but when his hands kept building that fire in her pit, she didn't have the mind to refuse him anything.

"Have a mission tomorrow. Something about Sasuke." She muttered, not being able to concentrate on anything but how it felt as his hands groped her. He smirked at her distraction, but at the same time was concerned about her being in contact with his younger brother. He trusted her to stay true to him, but something still nagged on his conscience. Something was going to happen soon, and he was sure that it wouldn't be a good thing for either of them, at least if they wanted to stay together.

"Be careful around him." Itachi murmured, the ministrations of his hands leaving her wordless and unable to answer him immediately. He knew she would be careful, but that persistent feeling still wouldn't let him be. Itachi felt more protective of her than anyone else in his memory, and his good sense would never let anyone touch what was rightfully _his_.

"I will." She finally managed. Itachi was minutely displeased that she was still able to _talk_, and recaptured her lush lips, already swollen from his governing kisses. Her ability was again lost, and he attempted satisfied his undying hunger for everything that was Sakura. With every moment though, he felt that enkindling fire only grow in desperation. He needed her more than anything, and his starvation wouldn't subside until he had her in all entirety.

"Good." He whispered, breathing in her sweet strawberry scent. She sighed against him, her hot breath sticking to his skin. He slowly moved her legs to either side of him, carefully taking in her facial expression, checking to see if there was any objections to be read. There was none to be found.

"I've never felt this way." He told her as he hovered. Her eyes lit up with anticipation, waiting anxiously for him to continue. This look egged him to lower himself slowly into her, just so she could let out a pleasing groan. His movements were needy and possessive, hers matching perfectly. Every moment inside of her, he felt that familiar heat spread through their cores, then from there through each of their bodies.

He was heedful in his actions, not wanting to see her cry like she had on that first night, in that awful bar. She saw this, and hated herself for causing him misery, because she couldn't stop the tears of pain from rolling down her cheeks. His face scrunched up in confusion, he had never thought it would hurt her the second time. He couldn't stop then though, he would never get any form of satisfaction unless he finished what he was doing. All he could do was slow himself, and hope that it would help.

"Itachi, don't slow because of me." Sakura whimpered, running a shaking hand through his raven hair. He shook his head, which told her that _she_ was the only thing that would ever cause him to slow himself.

"You have no idea how much it hurts to see you in pain." He murmured, stopping all together. She squirmed against him in frustration, angry with him for leaving her hanging. His brows furrowed as watched her writhe beneath him, not understanding why she could want him to continue, when it was causing her so much pain.

"Itachi, don't stop." She whined, trying to coax him with her hands. He had lit that fire, and it was going to burn until he finished, until he doused it himself. He saw this and understood it easily, he felt the same in every way. That didn't mean he wanted to hurt her though. She glared up at him, not letting him do anything else until he finished what he started. With a sigh, he relented.

He moved much faster than when he had started, not able to stop himself. She didn't mind it, she reveled in every thrust, no matter how much it hurt. He listened as she cried out his name, and with every call he kissed her wet face.

He hummed as their hips collided over and over, soothing her pleas, and letting her dig her nails into his back as he entered her again. She wouldn't let him pity her, not when she was enjoying the pain so much. Every call got even louder than the one before it, until she was shouting. He whispered her name in her ear as she yelled. He knew better to stop again, he really didn't want a yelling Sakura angry with him, her short temper was already known by half of the world. She apparently had inherited it from her shishou.

She arched into him as she reached the end, her breasts grinding into his chest as she called his name one last time. Itachi retrieved himself for the last time, resting next to her as they breathed heavily. Determined to not let him leave her apartment any time near then, Sakura stretched over him in serenity. He smiled slightly, wrapping an arm around her.

"I'm not letting you go anytime soon." She smirked as he wrapped a strong arm around her sweaty body. It was a good thing he wasn't going to be kicked out, Itachi thought, because he had no intention in leaving just then. Perhaps he would force himself to leave in the morning, but any time before then, it would be too soon.

"I wasn't planning on leaving, even if you wanted me to." He purred back, watching as she curled herself into his chest. They lay together as such, him not wanting to move her, her to comfortable to want to move. It was probably an hour before either of them even thought of moving, and another before they actually did. By this time, it was dark out, and the streetlights from outside were glowing orange. Orange, Sakura couldn't help but to think, just like Naruto.

She wasn't sure why, but she had the nagging feeling inside, telling her that she was forgetting something crucial. It was the orange lighting outside that triggered this feeling, so perhaps it had to do with Naruto? She sighed in defeat, unable to think of anything having to do with her blond friend. Sakura hoped it wasn't something too important.

Itachi had just gotten into the shower, and since he had even longer hair than she did, not that it took much to do that, she figured that he was going to take a while. She sat on the couch, switching on the television and wrapping her white sheet around her more tightly. Sakura flipped through the channels, and after discovering that there was nothing on worth watching she turned of the television.

Wait a moment, why in the hell was she out there anyway? She could be in the shower with Itachi, instead of wasting her time waiting for him. He wouldn't mind, and she certainly would like to join him. That would be so _hot_, taking a shower together, she thought dreamily. Standing up with the overly large sheet, she stumbled across the room to the door to her bathroom.

Without a second thought, she opened the door, a rush of steam flooding out for the few moments she left it open. Itachi poked his head out of the curtain curiously, noticing how the air had suddenly dropped a few degrees. His eyebrows lifted in pleasant surprise, and he watched in amusement as she let the sheet fall to the floor. She certainly was a forward one. She smirked at him, and opened the curtain to step into the shower.

He chuckled, and watched through his dark eyes as she stood under the hot water. Sakura sighed happily, and watched as she reached her hands up to run them through her wet hair. The water dribbled down her face and body, covering her with its heat. It was a pretty picture to be sure, but she was hogging the water. Somehow, Sakura managed to be both irritating and adorable at the same time, something Itachi was sure only she could do successfully.

"You have to share the water, you know." He smirked playfully, moving under the stream next to her. Sakura looked up at him, and feeling rather short, decided to stand on her toes. It really wasn't fair that he was so tall, while she was so short, but that was the last thing on her mind as their lips met.

His teeth nibbled on her lower lip, and only to even the playing grounds, he picked her up in his bare arms. Much to his satisfaction, this led her to straddle him, letting out those pleasing groans as she did so. They battled it out under the hot water, only remembering where they were until the heat ran out. Itachi glared at the faucet (as if that would help anything), while Sakura shrieked in surprise, nearly causing them both to fall.

She slid off of him, and he quickly turned the shower head off, leaving them both shivering where they stood. It was then that Sakura remembered that the one towel she had in her bathroom was tossed onto her bedroom floor. She scowled at herself for being so stupid, she should have brought it in with her when she joined him. Stupid hormones, they were blinding her actions.

"We don't have a towel, do we?" He asked tiredly. She sadly shook her head a negative, and he stepped out of the bathtub. He had intended to go out there wet and naked, but she stopped him.

"Let me go, you don't know where the linens closet is." Sakura said. He may have wanted to save the day by returning with towels, but it would be faster if she went, and on top of that, it was her fault they didn't have any in the first place.

"It's colder out there than it is in here." He informed her. She knew as much, seeing as it was still steamy in the bathroom, while it wasn't outside of it. Still, Sakura knew it was only just if she went.

"That's okay." She smiled, opening the door and quickly shutting it again behind her. Itachi sighed in defeat, and waited her return. She quickly went down the hall and into her closet, grabbing two white, fluffy towels. Sakura wrapped one of them around herself before returning to Itachi. He gratefully took it when she handed it to him, and once he was mostly dry, they returned to what they had been doing before they were so cruelly interrupted by the lack of hot water.

Sakura couldn't figure out what she was doing. She hardly even knew Itachi, and yet, she was kissing him heartily. When they had made love in that back room of that bar, it had been because of necessity. Sakura had needed to feel needed, he had needed to feel loved. That one sexual encounter should have been enough to fulfill both of these, yet she still longed for more.

They both knew it wasn't love, it couldn't possibly be that, they hardly knew each other. It was more than just sexual attraction too, though. If it had been, neither of them would have needed to wait to meet each other for them to make love to someone. Itachi found her interesting, she was different than most girls. Sakura didn't shy away from him, even if she did know his deepest, darkest secret. She accepted him, despite his many faults, and his unfortunate past. Sakura felt that Itachi was nothing like the man he was supposed to be, he was soft spoken and gentle, and more passionate than any other man she had ever known, to add to it. He didn't judge her for her foul mood, her rough demeanor, nor her obnoxious appearance.

Sakura knew that he was something she needed, and he needed her just as much. He still needed someone to love, someone who was willing to love him back, and she needed someone to care for her, someone who could be there. Sasuke had left, and so that position had been left open for too many years, until Itachi had come along. No, she didn't love him, but she knew that one day, she would. It wasn't fair of her, she felt like she was using him, but she also knew that he was using her at the same time.

The only thing was, if she didn't love him then, what was it that she felt when she was around him? Every time his eyes looked into hers, it sent an unfamiliar jolt into her heart, one that she couldn't explain. Sakura wondered how he felt for her, wether or not he thought he would ever love her, but she didn't have the backbone to ask him herself.

Itachi saw her inner conflict, and couldn't understand what it was about. She was too busy concentrating on her ever confusing thoughts, that she had almost forgotten that he was there, kissing her. She had just stopped moving all together, letting him do all of the work. While he didn't mind being in charge, he wanted to know what was going through her head.

"What's wrong?" He asked softly, pulling his lips away from hers. She came back out of her own world, her expression giving away her astonishment. Sakura had been so wrapped up thinking about him, that she had forgotten he was there.

"Itachi, what exactly are we, relationship wise?" She asked him in return. His face scrunched up in thought, trying to come up with a suitable answer for her. When he discovered he couldn't, he answered her honestly.

"I don't know."

Sakura sighed, and they both sat curled together on the couch, where they had migrated to from the bathroom floor. They both sat in deep thought, neither of them being able to answer her complicated question.

"What do you want us to be?" He questioned curiously. She looked down.

"All I know is that I don't want us to be just two people who have sex with each other every time we meet. I want us to talk to each other, to have intelligent conversations." Sakura answered him truthfully. She wasn't sure if that was near to anything he wanted, for all she knew he _was_ in for just the sex. But she wanted something more serious than that.

"Sakura."

"I understand if you don't feel that way, Itachi." She told him, feeling too embarrassed to look into his beautiful, dark eyes. He hummed tiredly into her hair, clutching her closer to his chest. He said nothing to her last statement, remaining deep in thought.

"What's your favorite color?" He asked calmly. Sakura couldn't help but to look into his eyes, after such an off-topic question.

"Red." She answered carefully, not seeing the point in his random inquiry. He smirked, and supposed he should have known as much, considering she wore red every day. It was sort of cute that she wore her favorite color, even if it wasn't the most practical for a shinobi.

"What's yours?" Sakura asked him in return, feeling slightly inquisitive. She half expected him to answer 'black,' or say, 'I don't have a favorite color,' but he always ended up surprising her.

"Blue." Itachi replied automatically. She smiled softly at his response. Blue... that was one of the colors that an Uchiha almost always wore. She wondered if that was the reasoning behind his choice. It was sort of sweet, even if he hadn't intended it to be.

"Red and Blue equals Purple." She muttered to herself. He looked down at her in amazement. What in the world was she thinking about?

"Sakura, I do believe we just had our first semi-normal conversation." Itachi told her thoughtfully. She giggled, realizing he was right. Sakura let him recapture her lips, and all train of thought was lost.

**AN: Hello, people!! I'm begging for some reviews here! None of my stories ever do, and I want to change that, but it's all up to you guys! Press that green button!**

**~Itaweasel-hime**


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: I have not forgotten about the little collection of chakra accumulating in Sakura. None of the characters have figured it out yet though. Thanks for the reviews last time (even if I didn't get very many T.T)**

Sakura realized as she began to stir that he had stayed, just as he promised to. It felt strange, having his warm, bare body flush against hers, but not unwelcomed at all. His arms were tied about her, pulling her nakedness against his chest. She spun in place so that she could see him. He was still asleep, and looked more at peace than ever before, even more so than when they had basked together in the wonderful after sex glory in the back of that grungy bar.

It was a sad thing, that a man who longed for peace more than anything, was the centerpiece of so many offending sides. His position as an S-class criminal made him a person that he did not want to be, and more than anything, Sakura wished she could help him. He deserved to be happy, with what he had been put through in his relatively short life. Sakura wondered if she was capable of making the man she lay in bed with happy, or at least content.

They had both been selfish the night they had met, both of them starving for physical satisfaction and attention. She had used him to feel needed, he had taken her virginity to feel loved, and she had let him. Sakura could not regret the things they had done together, despite their lack of history. Itachi knew how to leave her fulfilled, and she took advantage of his need for human contact to get that. It was despicable, but they were both guilty of the same things, so it made it somehow acceptable.

Sakura stretched slightly to move the bangs hiding his face away, revealing his closed eyes. His sooty eyelashes caressed his cheeks softly, the sight of it sending a pang of jealousy through her. It was unfair how beautiful he was, while she was not. Itachi would beg to differ, but she saw not a single pleasing feature on her body. Her hair was _pink_, her eyes too green to match with her hair, and her forehead too big to be considered adoring.

Itachi woke to find a pouting Sakura looking up at his face, her envy of him as clear as her bubblegum pink hair. It was cute, he thought, smirking to himself. He shifted, letting her know that he was indeed, awake, and her expression softened by this knowledge. Perhaps it was because she looked so different, so exotic compared to other girls, but she looked simply beautiful.

"Do you not have a mission to depart on this morning?" He murmured carefully, pulling her in closer to his chest. Sakura smiled sadly, knowing just what he meant, even if he had not said as much. He needed to return to the accursed Akatsuki, and she herself had to go on her way as well. It seemed to Sakura that Itachi was not a very blunt person, but instead preferred to speak in riddles, leaving her to interpret what he said. Thankfully, her mind was as broad as her forehead, and so she was capable of keeping up with his intellect.

"Yes, I do." She replied, snuggling into him despite this fact. Her head rested in the nook of his neck, and fit comfortably with him. He smiled when she could not see, pressing his lips to her pink hair.

"When do you return?" He inquired softly. This could only mean he intended to return to her little apartment as soon as she had. Sakura sighed, not knowing how to answer exactly. It was not something easy to explain.

"I do not know yet. The last time we went on a mission about Sasuke, we did not return for nearly three weeks."

Itachi sighed, not liking the staggering difference between the long three days they had been apart, and now the possible three weeks. It was a long time, but he would have to be patient. Besides, the three weeks of separation was the longest it could ever be. Then she would be home again, and she could once more devote her time to being with him. He found himself wanting such things, which went against everything he used to know.

"That is a long time." He finally muttered, tightening his arms again in a possessive manner. Sakura giggled for a second, liking the feeling she got in knowing that Itachi would miss her in their separation. To think that someone as disconnected with the world, someone so aloof could feel that way for her made Sakura feel more special than she had in a long time.

"I will miss you too." Sakura teased, tilting her face up to kiss his chin. He scowled for a moment at her implications, before returning the favor in a more sincere way. Itachi lifted her chin up with a thin finger, then crushing his lips onto hers forcefully. She parted her lips to let him explore her mouth, his hot tongue sliding against hers.

As she moaned into him, Sakura quickly discovered what his body's urges were leaning towards. He loomed over her, the kisses he gave her searing with their heat. Sakura saw how he was building that fire again, trying to rile her into submission. The pit of his stomach was churning with excitement, enticing him to run his hands along her abdomen in lithe movements. Itachi reveled with each groan he made her sound, still proud with the point that he could cause such a sensual thing in a woman.

Sakura turned her head from him, cutting off the kisses he burned her with. "Itachi we cannot. Not now."

He stopped what he was doing, slightly disappointed with what she said, but understanding nonetheless. She had a mission to go on, and he needed to return to the Akatsuki headquarters before Pein-sama sent Kisame on a search for him. Right then though, he was more concerned with what to do with his growing erection. Surely she knew that he hated leaving things undone by now, even if he _had_ stopped in the middle of their love making twice so far.

"Sakura..." His voice trailing off, his tone begging and his eyes hazed with passion. Her heart stopped momentarily by the way he had said her name, his longing and desperation clear.

"Itachi, I have to go on a mission. You know that." She whispered, though her face scrunching up in disappointed. The last thing she wanted to do was leave him so that she could find _Sasuke._ As a kunoichi, her missions came foremost though, and that meant she had to go anyway.

"You are right." He mumbled, rolling over to his back, lying on a mess of sheets and pillows. Half of him was disbelieving of what was happening to him; he was starting to act like an adolecent, thinking more with his dick than with his head.

Sakura slowly sat up. "I hate it too." She muttered, placing a delicate hand on his bare chest and leaning down to kiss him. Sakura left the room, taking a towel from the floor with her.

When Sakura returned to the bedroom from her shower with only a towel to cover herself, she found Itachi had left already. She could not say she was all that surprised, but she felt the urge to break down and cry anyway. To think they would be apart for so long was something she did not want to accept.

After the bad mood he had caught her in the previous day, Naruto was slightly hesitant to knock on Sakura's front door. Then he heard a cry of anguish, and so he put this thought out of his head, knocking on it anyway, only concerned with her general well being. What he failed to realize was that she had not cried out in anguish, but in surprise. How was he to know that Itachi had been there, and had left all of his clothes besides his cloak? Of course Sakura had known that it was because he had not wanted something restricting, so she was startled when she heard the pounding on her door.

She wondered if he had returned for his clothes, having second thoughts about going in only a cloak, and so she literally ran to answer it. Instead she found an anxious Naruto standing there, and instantly deflated. Once again, he stared at her like a fish out of water; this was the second time he had seen her in such a revealed state in the past twenty-four hours.

"You took _another_ shower?" He questioned. Sakura blushed profusely, remembering her other 'shower.' It had been more like a crazy, steamy make out session with Itachi than anything else. She had not even bothered with shampoo, but Naruto would not have known that.

"Well, _some_ of us like to be clean." She retorted in a huff, crossing her arms over her chest protectively. He blinked, trying to comprehend what she had just told him.

"Hey! I am not dirty!" He finally said, understanding her insult after thinking about her comment for a few minutes. Sakura rolled her eyes, as if to disagree.

"Neither am I, seeing as I just got out of the shower." Sakura grumbled dryly. She was put down, and rightfully so. Receiving a blond knuckle-headed ninja instead of a gorgeous god of a shinobi was quite a let down.

"I wanted to make sure you remembered to wake up! You looked really tired last time I saw you." Naruto said cheerfully.

Sakura blushed. "Clearly, I am awake."

"Good thing too! Kakashi-sensei said to wake you up myself if you were not!" Naruto informed her. Sakura's eyes bulged slightly, and her face paled. It definitely was a good thing that she had not given in to what Itachi had wanted, or else they would have been discovered by her obnoxious teammate. That most certainly would not have been a good way to start the day. She supposed she should be thankful Itachi had left early as well, even if his leaving early did agitate her greatly.

"Good thing indeed." Sakura breathed, "Naruto, I have to get dressed. I will be out in a minute or two."

"Cannot I just come in and wait?"

Sakura sighed in exasperation, and quickly looked back into the living room. Pillows and throw-blankets were tossed this way and that, but besides that, there was nothing out of the ordinary. Itachi's clothes were tossed in both the bathroom and her bedroom, out of his vantage point.

"Fine, but you cannot go in the bathroom."

Sakura opened the door more widely to let him in, and then retreated to her bedroom to get some clothes. Once having privacy, she dressed into her usual vest and beige skirt at her quickest. The room was a disaster area, and she needed to put it back into some form of order before she left. Slightly embarrassed, Sakura picked up Itachi's abandoned clothes to toss them into her hamper, and then moved to her bed to inspect it.

Her sheets honestly smelled like sex. It smelled like their sweat combined, but then there was another scent that she did not care to identify. Knowing that when she returned from their especially long and stressing mission, the last thing she was going to want to do was strip her bed, Sakura tugged the sheets off and piled then into the hamper. Not wanting to keep Naruto waiting any longer, Sakura snatched her weapons pouch and stumbled out of her room.

Kakashi looked up from his most recently acquired volume of the Icha Icha series to see his two students walking up to him. It was unusual for him to arrive at the meeting spot first, but he supposed he was not _always _late for things, as his pupils like to point out. In fact, this was not the first time he had showed up before anyone else; he had gotten to the dango shop before Sasuke all of those years ago... Only to have an epic battle with Itachi minutes later.

Sakura looked more tired than she had been yesterday, Kakashi noted dully. There was something else about her though, she was different somehow, even if he could not tell how. There was something about her that glowed, and something about it seemed familiar, but not on his student. If he recalled correctly, it was the same way Kurenai looked when she was with Asuma. It was none of his business though, if it was the same sort of glow, as long as it did not interfere with their upcoming mission.

He wondered if Naruto noticed the difference in Sakura, or it he was just reading into things again. If he was right, then neither Naruto nor Sasuke had a chance with their kunoichi teammate, though he doubted Sasuke could care any less than he already did. Then again, he had been wrong again.

"Kakashi-sensei, what _exactly _are we doing for this mission?" Sakura called in her approach. Clearly, she had not been paying attention to Naruto the day before, not that he had suspected otherwise.

"We have gotten a lead on Sasuke from one of out undercover spies." He replied, sounding rather bored. With much regret, he put his precious little book back into its spot in his weapons pouch.

"He is supposedly hiding out in Rain, near the border of grass. We are being sent out to find him, and if he is alone, bring him back to Konoha. If he is with a team, we will wait for back up, and trail him instead. Tsunade will deal with him after that."

Sakura had to think about what was happening, and it took her a few minutes for her to process the possible outcomes to the mission they were about to embark on. If everything went as it should, Sasuke would be coming home, coming back to Konoha. If this meant anything, it was that things in her life were about to get a lot more complicated than they already were. Sasuke was still hellbent on killing Itachi, which after what was currently between them, she could never allow. There could be a higher chance of Itachi getting caught in Konoha if they did continue, which of course, they had to.

With his Sharingan, it would not be hard for Sasuke to see even the slightest traces of Itachi's chakra, and this could make it even harder than it was for her to be around him. Sasuke was going to hate her for being part of the reason why he was brought home, but if he found out about her current relationship with his older brother, all hell would be let loose. Without a doubt in her mind, if Sasuke caught wind of their sexual encounters, he would tell anyone who would listen. On top of that, it could bring Itachi in danger, having him in such a close proximity with Sasuke.

Yet, she could not refuse to partake in the mission, no matter how much it would be putting her somewhat happy life in jeopardy. If she went against what she was just told, her teammates would suspect her of something she would rather them not find out. As far as they were concerned, she was still desperately in love with Sasuke, and had never even met Uchiha Itachi before. To contradict this publicly known fact would only put her in the path of other shinobi who would happily bed her. When she turned down every man who asked her favor, it would look unusual.

"I see. Will Sai and Yamato be coming as well?" Sakura asked faintly. She was treading in dangerous waters, and she knew it. No one could know of her and her lover, especially not Sasuke, who was the most likely to figure it out. Before she met Sasuke again, she had to come up with something to do with him, how she should act around him.

"No, this will just be the three of us." Kakashi replied. He had noticed it before, but this morning her wariness was even more prominent to him. She was hiding something from them, and that was unusual for someone as open as Sakura normally was. He would not push it though, he just hoped it would not interfere with the mission at hand.

"Almost like old times, right Sakura-chan?" Naruto chirped, putting his two hands behind his head proudly. Sakura smiled tiredly, keeping him at bay while she fabricated a response. Surely Naruto had to know that even if Sasuke did return, it would never be team seven again, Sakura reflected. Knowing Naruto though, she assumed that he was going to be as optimistic as ever, until the world caught up to him. As much as it was for his own good that he realized it would never be the same again, Sakura did not have the heart to tell Naruto that. He should be allowed to dream while he could.

"I guess so." She answered weakly. Mentally, Sakura shook her head, trying to focus herself. She needed to act normally on this mission, she did not want to give her over protective teammates any clues that she was not feeling quiet herself. The less they knew, the better.

"We should head out. We might be able to get to rain before the end of the day if we start now." Kakashi said, much to Sakura's relief. She was no longer in the spotlight, and Naruto forgot the weakness her voice had just portrayed. She just hoped that Kakashi had not caught it.

"Yes! Let's get that teme!" Naruto crowed in his boisterous voice, nearly waking half of the surrounding neighborhood. Glaring at him, Sakura hammered Naruto on the head effectively, which thankfully served to shut his over sized mouth.

"Shut up, you idiot! Do you think anyone wants to hear that first thing in the morning?" She growled, being sure to keep her voice down. Sakura did not want to be accused of the very thing she was scolding Naruto of. It would be unpardonable.

Naruto rubbed his head, smiling apologetically. "Sorry Sakura-chan. I forgot you are not a morning person."

Sakura chose not to respond to this comment, and instead sighed. After sharing a glance with Kakashi, they wordlessly started to walk away, leaving Naruto behind. As always, Naruto complained, ran up to them, and earned himself another smack upside the head for being so noisy. This process only ended once they were beyond the gates of Konoha, and well into their search for Sasuke.

Itachi hated himself for leaving her so abruptly, but his actions were necessary. If he had not, there was not a doubt in his mind that the copy-nin and the jinchuuriki would have caught him in Sakura's apartment. Making love to their beloved teammate. It was not something he ever intended to happen, no matter what the cost. Matters with his brother were pressing, and he needed to attend to them.

He knew that his brother was hiding out in Rain, perhaps because the Akatsuki was based there. It might have been haphazard of him, but he had led Konoha's leader in espionage, Jiraya, right to his younger brother. Now that his original plans were being thrown out of the window, he had to come up with a new one to replace it. Sasuke was being sent back into the safety of Konoha, where he had always intended him to be.

As much as it had made everything so much more complicated than he would prefer, Itachi could not regret his decision to make love to Sakura. It had made him decide to live, and he knew it was selfish of him. Still, he could not help it. His plans were already put into action, and Sasuke was returning home. He knew that Sakura and her team were fully capable of handling Sasuke, until he had gotten the chance to speak with his younger brother.

It would take more force than he ever wished to use on his younger brother, but Itachi had to tell Sasuke the truth. Sakura had been right about that point, however rash the idea of telling Sasuke about the massacre was. His younger brother would recover after knowing the truth, and then Itachi could have Sakura to himself. Itachi had to tell himself not to get too carried away though, he did not know what the counsel in Konoha would decide to be Sasuke's fate, or his own for that matter.

Konoha's counsel were made up of corrupt, power hungry, fools. They had forced him into killing his own family, and at such a young age. Itachi had always been peace loving, after seeing the horrors of a ninja war. Now, he never had considered it before, but he might be able to brace a life with relative peace, if Konoha could accept him. If they could be as understanding, as forgiving as Sakura was. He was tired of causing mayhem, he wanted to protect something worthwhile, for once.

His brother had been a fool, just as he had called him for all of those years. Itachi had told him to kill his best friend, not to run off to Orochimaru. Being as stubborn as he was though, Sasuke had resisted the orders subtly given to him. If he had done as he was told, Itachi may have been dead though, and he most certainly would not have Sakura. No, she would still belong to Sasuke if he had obeyed his instructions. For all he knew, they would have already started a family together. The very thought disturbed him.

It should not have been all that unsettling, Sakura had originally been meant for Sasuke. When he now thought of Sasuke being allowed to touch her, to make love to her as he had, it was though. He could never let Sasuke do that to Sakura, she was his, and only his. He refused to share her with him. This feeling was so strange, so foreign, Itachi hardly knew what to do with it. The last time he had cared for someone so much, he had been forced into killing them.

Itachi shook his head, not wanting to think back at that terrible time, when he performed the Uchiha clan massacre. He was back at headquarters, and not that he was all too surprised, but the entire area was utterly silent. It seemed that Deidara and Kisame had stayed up late the night previous, otherwise it would have been much louder in the base. Hidan was known to be noisy as well, so perhaps he was doing another ritual in his room, Itachi mused.

He went straight to his room, and then continued into the bathroom adjacent to it. Itachi stripped, smirking to himself as he did so. Sakura had undoubtedly found his clothes scattered about the room. Of course, he had left them intentionally, a promise to return as soon as she did.

If her mission went as well as he intended, Itachi knew he would have to be more discrete in his going to Sakura's apartment. Sasuke was still as obsessed with killing him as he always had, and it would be compromising if he found Itachi in Konoha. Sakura would be questioned for fraternizing with an S-class criminal, and everyone she knew would turn their backs on her. That could not be allowed; thusly, Itachi would strive to be more surreptitious.

The heat of his shower turned on, Itachi stood beneath the stream of water, letting the goosebumps cover his skin. Finding it too hot, he mixed cold water in, until finding a better temperature. Absentmindedly, he thought back to his short stay with Sakura. She had been so shocked at seeing him there, which was exactly what he had expected from her. Sakura had been so much more tired, he noted, when comparing her countenance then to their first meeting. That did not stop her though, she was just as feisty as before.

Itachi lathered the masculine shampoo into his long hair, scrubbing the soap into his scalp with his nails. It felt so good to be clean, though it felt even _better_ to take a shower with his Sakura. He let the water cascade down his hair and body, rinsing the suds away. For a few minutes, he just stood there, letting his body absorb the heat of the water. As the heat began to wane, he turned it off, and dried himself with a towel.

What he had done would make life so much more difficult, especially if he wanted to keep any permanent relationship with Sakura, but it had been necessary to send Sasuke home. His younger brother had been roaming the shinobi world for too long, causing everyone who cared about him trouble, and more importantly, pain.

Sakura would surely understand why he took this course of action, when she discovered that he was the one who was behind Sasuke's return to Konoha. She needed to, because without her, Sasuke would never listen to him. There was simply something about Sakura that was reassuring, that could make anyone feel sage. Even Sasuke around his supposedly murdering bastard of a brother. He was putting so much responsibility in her hands, but in the end it was all for her anyway.

Dressed once more, Itachi settled on his bed, a good book in hand. Her mission could prove to be difficult, considering it was Sasuke she was dealing with, but he was just going to have to patiently wait for Sakura to return home.

**AN: Do you know what makes me laugh? Whenever I try to write the name Sasuke, my computer keeps confusing it with 'seasick.' Very fitting, isn't it? Do you see that green lettering below this message? Well, do me a favor, and press it. Leave me some reviews here!! Thank you!**


	3. Chapter 3

Sakura was beginning to realize that this mission she was commissioned into going was going to change her life drastically. There was also that chance that she may not even return from it, if Sasuke sensed Itachi's chakra signature on her. He would kill her without a thought in his revenge-bent mind. She would be a traitor, right next to his brother. On top of that, Kakashi-sensei and Naruto could find out if Sasuke blabbed, and they would feel just as betrayed. It would hurt them so much, if they discovered her secret.

She ran along side her oblivious teammates, hoping that they would not find out the truth. Ignorance was bliss. Her stomach clenched and then unclenched at the thought of seeing Sasuke again. Part of her was curious to see if he had changed much in the time since she had last seen him. He was no doubt taller, more muscular, but she could no longer picture his face.

Would it have sharp, aristocratic angles to it, or would it still have the calm softness it had last time she had seen him? She was still angry with him, furious in fact, but he was still her teammate. The missing puzzle piece to team seven. No matter how much it jeopardized her new life, no matter how many times he had made the same mistakes, he would always be welcomed into Konoha.

Naruto seemed to be even more happy than usual, from the way he was running so fast. It made sense, Sasuke was the only brother he had ever had. He was family, and one of the most important people in his life. Naruto had always been alone, rejected and pushed aside, until team seven. They were the only family he had, the only regularity, and he wanted it all back.

Guilt washed over Sakura in heavy waves. Just like Sasuke was his brother, she was his sister. What would Naruto think if he discovered what his sister was doing with a notorious, S-class criminal? He would never look at her in the same way again. Would she cease to be his sister? Sakura hoped that once Naruto knew the truth, he would accept Itachi, and support her for the choices she was making.

Kakashi, if anyone, would understand the most. _Look underneath the underneath._ He would not judge as much as everyone else would, not with that saying he had.

Kakashi glanced at the kunoichi running next to him. She was unusually distant, though he supposed she could be mentally preparing for a reunion with Sasuke. It did not seem like that though, not the way she kept smiling softly. She was infuriated with Sasuke, so it could not be about him. Sakura had found someone else? It was unlikely that it was someone he knew, he could not picture her being with someone in the rookie nine. If not, then who?

He realized it was none of his business, but he was still curious. He wondered if it would change the teamwork dynamics if Sakura was still angry with Sasuke, and she found a potential significant other. Whoever he was, he had better be prepared to face of Naruto, because he would surly throw a fit when he learned of it. Kakashi did not really care if Sakura might have found a man, as long as it did not intervene with her missions as a kunoichi. Then again, if someone broke her heart again, he would be there that time, and knowing how he felt for his pupil, he would probably hunt the bastard down himself.

When Sasuke had left, he had watched from the sidelines as she silently broke down, drowning in her own misery. He hated himself for not staying by her, being that shoulder for her to cry on, but even if he had tried, she would not have accepted it. If it did happen again, he would not stand by idly, he would intervene, whether she wanted him to or not.

Naruto sped up again, his enthusiasm making him forget that they needed to stay together. Sakura shook her head, trying to free her mind of the consuming thoughts swimming around. Smiling softly to herself, she caught up to him. He hardly seemed to notice her presence, because he kept up the unearthly speed. Kakashi stared at the backs of his students, having a hard time believing how much they had really grown up.

"Naruto, there is no need to rush. We passed the border into rain half an hour ago." Sakura murmured. He nodded his head, understanding what she was trying to portray. He was going to fast for everyone else in his eagerness.

"Sorry, Sakura-chan. It is just that we are so close to getting to Sasuke. I cannot wait to bring him back home!" He answered in exuberance. She giggled. No matter what happened, Naruto would never change. Sasuke had attacked him with killing intent, but he was still so determined to bring him back to Konoha. It was almost unnatural; it would have been, if it had been from anyone other than Naruto. He put a whole other meaning to optimism.

"I doubt he is going to be leaving rain any time soon, Naruto." Sakura said. Perhaps it was because she and Itachi had spoken of him ending his initial plans for his younger brother, but she got the feeling Itachi was more involved than he let on. It would make sense for him to sent Sasuke home, seeing that he would not be killing Itachi anymore. It would be just like Itachi to send konoha shinobi out to bring Sasuke home for him. Obviously, if he did it himself, Sasuke would merely try to kill him, instead of listening to him. Itachi loved his brother, but Sasuke was a handful.

"I know that Sakura-chan! But the sooner we find Sasuke, the sooner we can go home. Do you not miss him too?"

Sakura choked on her words. "Naruto, what makes you think that I did not miss Sasuke?" She did not though, and she hated herself for lying to him, but it was necessary.

"I do not know. You just seem out of sorts." Naruto shrugged. Sakura gulped, hoping that he did not take anything seriously.

"I am just tired, Naruto." She lied, knowing he would believe her without batting an eyelash, and be only concerned with her well being. It was not a complete lie, she told herself. She_ was_ still tired from spending most of the night up with Itachi, letting him take everything he needed from her. Taking yes, but giving so much more.

"Tired? Kakashi-sensei, should we set up camp? We do not want Sakura-chan to pass out on us."

There he went, thinking about her instead of their mission. She wondered if Kakashi caught her little white lie. If anyone had, it would have been their sensei. Naruto thought to highly of her to suspect Sakura of lying to him.

"I can handle it, Naruto. I am not a child. I just did not get enough sleep last night." Sakura muttered. If there was something she could not stand, it was when her teammates coddled her. It reminded her of when she was a pathetic genin who could not stand up for herself, who needed someone to protect her. She was not that person anymore, so she hated it when they treated her like she was.

"I wonder, Sakura, what could have kept you up last night? You should have gotten a long rest, seeing that you did not have any interruptions after we left you." Kakashi mused aloud. Sakura ceased to breath. She was found out, she screamed inwardly. He knew about yesterday.

"I do not see how that is any of your business, Kakashi-sensei." She replied warily. Her sensei snorted, but said nothing. He knew she was up to something, but it was clear that he wanted no part of it. For this, Sakura was thankful. The last thing she wanted was for a man who she looked up to like a father to start probing her for answers.

"So should we stop?" Naruto asked, not understanding the thick tension between his teammate and captain.

"We will continue for another hour." Was Kakashi's only reply. The remainder of the evening was spent in silence, the group being so comfortable with each other that neither of them deemed it necessary to speak when setting up camp and preparing a meal. They knew each other's patterns so well that it was if they moved in sync.

Sasuke's eyebrows knitted together in a mixture of confusion and frustration. There it was, that familiar presence, nearing him and his team. It was early, much to early for his tastes, but he knew he had to move Hebi out, lest they be caught by Konoha shinobi. He did not have to say anything, as soon as he had gotten to his feet, the other members of Hebi stirred in reaction.

Suigetsu looked up at their leader, knowing without asking that they were moving on again. Sasuke always seemed to have this distant look in his eyes when Konoha shinobi were nearing in on them, familiar or not. Suigetsu was not sure if he regretted leaving his original home, or if he was just thinking of another way to escape. The later was the more likely of the two.

Karin grumbled as she got up, the tree she had been leaning on the night before causing knots to twist in the muscles of her shoulders and back. Not that she would say anything to Sasuke about their less-than-satisfactory sleeping conditions. She ran a lazy hand through bright red locks of hair, yawing in utter exhaustion. Karin paused in mid-action, sensing why they had gotten up so early. Konoha was after Sasuke again. Karin already could tell who exactly it was, and she wondered if Sasuke could too. It did not matter much to him, at least as far as she knew; Sasuke could not care less about the pathetic konoha nin. All they did was get in their way.

Sasuke sent her a pointedly questioning look, as if to ask her how far away they were, how much time they had to make a break for it. Karin closed her eyes and concentrated, letting her chakra spread out through the area, until she found the information she needed.

"Less than a mile away. We have no more than two minutes."

He frowned, not liking the statistics given to him. "How many?"

"Three. The jinchuriki, the copy-nin, and the medic."

Sasuke cringed at the new information. Karin understood how he felt, being a missing nin. Nobody could ever comprehend the panic of being caught by the hunter-nin. Suigetsu and Juugo prepared themselves to depart the campsite, snuffing out the small fire and pulling their things together.

"Hebi, move out." Sasuke ordered, just in time for a recognizable voice to shout over it.

"Sasuke!" Naruto called, drawing the attention of the four missing nin. Sure enough, it was Naruto, Kakashi and Sakura, Sasuke mused. How unusual, he thought, seeing how Sakura hid herself slightly behind the other two. Perhaps she needed protection, his mind concluded. Until he looked more closely. He could recognize that sinister chakra that had itself cocooning around her body.

"Sakura. What the hell do you think you are doing?" He asked, his voice giving away his betrayal and fury. Naruto and Kakashi glanced at her in confusion, not making sense of what their old teammate had just said. She stiffened at his tone, knowing he had figured everything out already. He could say anything, and she was not ready for anyone to find out yet. So, she concluded, she was going to have to do the unimaginable.

Sakura dashed forward for Sasuke, and before he had even seen her move, she was dragging him away. His eyes widened in astonishment, not being able to believe Sakura was capable of moving so quickly. Then again, she was with _him_, so she was undoubtedly hiding so much more from the world.

"I will deal with him." She said back at her startled partners, apparently they had never seen her move so quickly either. They had no time to respond before she disappeared with Sasuke behind the foliage. They had been about to set chase after her, when the remainder of Hebi stood in their path. Sakura distinctly heard Naruto yelling at them, but his words were lost when she gained a comfortable distance.

Sakura let go of Sasuke, letting him move freely. He did not return to the other group, but instead glared intently down at her. Sakura did not falter under his influential look, like she thought she would have. Then again, Itachi could be so much more scary than Sasuke, and she had survived with him so far.

"What the hell are you doing around my brother?" He finally seethed, discovering that she would not be defeated by glaring alone. Her eyes met his in challenge, as if the let him know she would not be reduced to nothing by him.

"I do not see how my personal life is any of your business, Sasuke." She said placidly. He processed the words he just heard her utter, let their meaning sink in.

Sakura was no longer the girl who chased after him, who drank every word he said like revered scripture. She was different now, he realized, and he did not like it one bit. She was not the girl he had secretly loved anymore, she was no better than he was, a traitor. Nothing made sense. Sakura was supposed to be the weak one of team seven, the one who stood on the sidelines as everyone else fought. What could she have done to catch Itachi's attention?

"Your personal life?" He sputtered in question. Sakura said nothing. He was going to have to interpret her how ever he wanted to. If he did not figure out everything, then it was his fault for not being able to decipher what she said. He seemed to get her hint, because the next moment, he had turned a deathly pale.

"Are you kidding me?" Sasuke asked.

Silence.

"You and my brother. What the fuck are you thinking, Sakura? He _has _to be using you. I cannot believe that you would be stupid enough to let him weasel himself past your defenses."

"Am I really stupid, Sasuke? I moved on, there is nothing more to it."

"Right. _Moved on._ Moved on? You were supposed to love me, not turn your back on me for my brother!" He shouted. Sakura flinched, but held her ground. She would not be defeated, not now, not ever. Sasuke was going to have to accept the facts for what they were, because she was not turning back now. Not when she had finally found someone who did not judge her for who she was. It did not matter if he was in exile, or if he was technically her enemy.

"You broke my heart, Sasuke. Even if I did not belong to him, I could never be yours. You betrayed me, you killed me on the inside. I am allowed to find someone who makes me at least remotely happy."

"Because I left, you think it is all right to fuck my brother? He is a _murderer_, Sakura. Once he has gotten his fill of you, he will kill you too!"

"Itachi would not do that." Sakura replied softly.

"Do you know what he has done? He massacred the entire Uchiha clan when he was only thirteen. It did not matter who they were, he killed without any discrimination. Our mother, father, aunts and uncles, grandparents; he slaughtered everyone who loved him without any base reason. He is mentally insane, Sakura! Why cannot you see that?"

"I know what he has done, Sasuke. Do you think he has not told me everything himself?"

"Great. I am sure he enjoys retelling that story to you after every time he fucks your brains out like some common whore." He said sarcastically. Sakura glared at him for a minute, blushing at his crude comment.

"I am not a whore, Sasuke." She growled back at him. He met her stern look with a dark glower.

"Do you think you are any more to him than a good fuck? The sick bastard that he is, he will use you just like his last whore, and then get rid of you." He shot at her. If he was honest with himself, he would admit that he was just trying to rile her up, make her lose her temper.

"I do not know exactly what you really think of your brother, but despite that, I was Itachi's first, just as he was mine." She answered him in a dangerously calm tone. Sasuke grimaced at her statement. He was tired of hearing her excuses. Sakura was going to have to pay somehow for what she was doing, for breaking the trust he had in her. He had killed his own feelings in leaving her behind, and she had destroyed all of his hopes and dreams. Sakura was supposed to be the woman he continued the Uchiha line with, but now she was tainted. Ruined by the corruptness of Itachi.

"Enough, Sakura. You will pay for your betrayal. Maybe then, Itachi will take heed to my seriousness in killing him." He said at last, getting into a battle stance. Sakura saw his change in mood, and followed in suit. For a good minute or two, they only stared at each other, sizing one another up.

Growing tired of the current standing, Sakura made the first move. Focusing a large amount of chakra into her hand, she dashed forward in speeds that he hardly had time to read. Sasuke moved to the side just before she threw the first punch, and when it did not connect, he was glad for it. The deep crater her fist left in the ground would have certainly handicapped him.

She came again, another punch at the ready, but again, she missed him by inches. Taijustu was impossible against someone of Sakura's caliber, as Sasuke quickly deduced. He unsheathed his chokuto, hoping that it might put them on more even grounds. In all reality, Sasuke did not want to harm Sakura in anyway, despite how she had been so disloyal to him. He had to be careful, or he would really kill her.

Sakura knew that Sasuke was a specialist in kenjustu, and was automatically wary of his actions. In response to him unsheathing the blade, she slipped a kunai out from the holster at her thigh. He swung in a practiced movement, and she quickly blocked with her kunai. She rushed chakra into her hand again, and this time he saw this ahead enough to jump out of range.

Kunai still in hand, she made chase, punching and refilling her fists with her chakra, leaving a path of destruction behind her. Sasuke bid his time, he knew she had to run out of chakra eventually, and then she would be open for him to attack. Until then, he had to be sure not to be hit. If he took even one hit, he would be out for the count, and then dragged back to Konoha.

She could read his tactics, it was clear that he was waiting for her to wear herself out. Then, he would let at least some of his guard down, enough for her to get through his blockade. It would be a cheap shot, but she was a kunoichi. Deception was how she won any battle against another shinobi.

Sasuke watched her carefully, noting how she was recklessly using up her chakra in attempts to attack him. It would not be much longer, and she would be completely vulnerable. Then he would knock her out as he had that night so long ago, and leave her on the forest floor for Naruto and Kakashi to find her.

Then he would go on a full-out search for Itachi. He would not stop looking until he was found, and then Sasuke would get his revenge. It was not just for him killing their family anymore, no, it was so much more than that now. Itachi had taken one of the few, last thing that had been absolutely his. It would not be pardoned, he would not let this go. Sakura would be his again, but Itachi had to die first.

Sakura did not let it show, but she was quite pleased that Sasuke bought her little act. He obviously thought she was out of chakra, because he was now approaching her. She stood still, putting an expression of worry on her face, making it much more believable. Sasuke smirked as he saw her slump to the ground in exhaustion. She was done for, and she was going to wish she had never pulled him away from everyone else, but even more than that, she was going to regret ever seeing his brother.

"You see Sakura, you could never have defeated me." Sasuke stated smugly, squatting down next to her. Sakura cautiously looked into his face, playing the part of a defenseless, weakened kunoichi to the best of her ability. His expression haughty, he lifted a hand to her cheek, caressing it mockingly.

"Itachi will not be happy when he hears about this." Sakura replied, her voice showing nothing but frailty. He seemed to be pleased by this statement, because his smirk grew wider.

"You seem to think he will find out."

A flash of what looked like a victorious smile crossed her face, and before Sasuke could figure out its meaning, Sakura's hand shot out and behind his back. Two chakra enhanced fingers jabbed down at the base of his neck, successfully rendering him immobile.

"He will, Sasuke. And believe me, he will not be pleased with his little brother." Sakura told him matter-of-factly. Sasuke paled, his eyes shooting up with surprise, registering what had just passed right before he passed out.

Sakura let out a small sigh in relief, glad that she had gone through with her plan. She was going to have to drag him back to Kakashi and Naruto, but in the mean time, she had to be sure that he did not remember what he had learned before their fight. It would be disastrous if during the interrogation, Ibiki found out about her and Itachi. He would go to Tsunade immediately, and then all hell would be let loose.

She went through a series of hand seals, and then pressed a hand to Sasuke's forehead. He twitched in his forced sleep, but she trusted her abilities enough to know that her jutsu was fully in effect. Sasuke would not remember anything that happened that morning besides the fight, but nothing of their conversation before then. It was utterly erased, so even Ibiki would be unable to recover those memories.

Throughly put out, Sakura stood up and threw Sasuke over her shoulder. Her knees buckled at the weight, but she adjusted her balance, and then continued on her way.

When she returned to the others, they were already waiting for her. Karin, Suigetsu and Juugo were all slumped over in defeat. Naruto jumped up from the spot he had been sitting at as soon as he saw her coming.

"Sakura-chan! You are done too! Now we can go home!" He shouted excitedly.

"Yes, Naruto. We can go back to konoha now." She said tiredly. Back home, back to Itachi.

**AN: Hello readers, and thank you for following my story so far! If you like it so far, then please leave me a review! I want to know what you guys think, and sadly, I have not gotten much feedback. It is really sad... so please leave me a review!!**


	4. Chapter 4

Tsunade was unsure of what to think. Here stood all of Team seven, Sasuke included. Naruto was, as to be expected, overly excited, and Kakashi was slightly more cheerful than usual, but her apprentice, Sakura, looked like she would rather be anywhere but there. Tsunade knew that Sakura had only trained under her to catch up with the rest of her team, and to get Sasuke back. Now though, her apprentice looked as if she could care less that the love of her life had returned home to her. Sakura appeared to wish to be anywhere but in that office, in front of her.

Just as Kakashi had, Tsunade could come to only one conclusion. Sakura had moved on, had discovered someone more worth her time. For this she was glad; Sakura's previous obsession had been beyond unhealthy. She would have died for the undeserving bastard, and all he would have needed to do was ask it of her. It was much more than what she could say for herself, Tsunade still thought of Dan frequently. At least her apprentice would not fall down the same pathetic path as she had.

Sakura was beyond uneasy with her current situation. Sasuke, the man she was supposed to love for all of eternity, was back in Konoha. She wished that Sasuke had escaped while he could have, and that the mission had been a failure. Anything would have been better than bringing the betrayer home. She saw no point in it, he was just going to go hunt Itachi again, as soon as his trust had been regained. He was a lost cause.

She smiled, wondering if Itachi had learned about her success in his little mission. He was the only person who could have possibly hired anyone for the retrieval of Sasuke, or even know where he had been. No one else was capable of such espionage.

As soon as he found out she was back in Konoha, he would come to finish what he had started, without a doubt in her mind. She wondered if he would be there already when she got back to the apartment, sitting patiently on her tattered red couch. The thought of it made her want to laugh giddily. She would have to wait for that until she was out of the office though, until she was alone, and nobody would question her.

"Kakashi, I want you to turn in Uchiha Sasuke to the ANBU. They will take care of the interrogation. I am not sure how much he has told the outside world about Konoha, but I need to find out how much we need to beef up security around here." Tsunade ordered, taking a sip of her nigorizake and flipping through Sasuke's file. Spending several years with Orochimaru, Sasuke surely had given that snake information regarding to Konoha's security measures. It was common knowledge that Orochimaru still wanted revenge against the village for not electing him Hokage all of those years ago.

"I will, Tsunade-sama." Kakashi replied sincerely, bowing his head in respect. Sakura sighed hopefully. If Sasuke was being sent off to the ANBU, then he would not be returned for quite a long time. This might bother Naruto, but it was for the best. She was thankful that her memory erasing technic was untraceable. Even the all-mighty ANBU could not decipher the locks she left in his head, nor trace them back to her.

"Tsunade-baa, how can you hand Sasuke over to the ANBU? This is _Sasuke_; he is not some mass murderer like Itachi. Cannot we send him to Ibiki instead?" Naruto butted in. Sakura cringed at his choice of words, but she could not blame him for thinking of Itachi as no more than a murderer. That was all he knew.

"While Ibiki is my top interrogator, the information that needs to be sought out has more to do with ANBU. They are the ones that are going to be changing Konoha's security, not Ibiki. And stop calling me that, show some goddamned respect for the Hokage!" She barked back, taking another sip of her sake. She did not fail to notice her apprentice's reaction to Naruto's comment, but she was unable to make sense of it.

"But Sasuke did not do anything! It was all Itachi's fault!" Naruto complained. Once more, Sakura squirmed at Naruto's accusations. It was agitating how lowly everyone in her general acquaintance seemed to hate Itachi. It was not the time for them to discover otherwise though. Itachi would know when to tell everyone the truth of their relationship.

"Sasuke left the village as a renegade, Naruto! He is not innocent, he will always be under suspicion." Tsunade retorted angrily.

"If that Itachi had not killed anyone, then Sasuke would not have needed to leave!" Naruto replied heatedly. Sakura sighed. The whole situation was getting out of hand. Not only was Naruto being extremely disrespectful by questioning the Hokage's decisions, but this conversation was getting too close to Itachi for her comfort. Finding it to be the only solution to shutting Naruto up, Sakura hammered a fist down on his head.

"Forgive him, Shishou. He forgets to whom he speaks." Sakura interjected nervously. Naruto rubbed the sore spot, sending Sakura a not-so-subtle glare.

"This is Sasuke she's trying to cart away, Sakura! Do you not care about him anymore?" He shouted at her. A short, awkward silence ensued. What could she say to him? She was long over Sasuke, but no one knew of that yet. Naruto would be hurt if he found out he had been trying to return Sasuke to her for years, all for nothing.

"I will always care about Sasuke, Naruto." Sakura mumbled softly, not meeting his eyes.

"If you cared about Sasuke, then you would be stopping him from going to ANBU, just as I am. You used to love him!"

Silence. She had to tell him, he was her brother. He deserved to know that she was over him, if nothing else.

"Naruto, I did love Sasuke at one point, but he broke my heart. It took time, but I moved on. He is no more to me than a brother, and that can never change now." Sakura murmured, looking down at the floor. The room stared at her for her proclamation. Kakashi and Tsunade had half expected as much, but for her to admit as much was beyond surprising. Naruto stood frozen in place, unable to react to her statement.

"Enough of this. My office is not the place for you all to talk about your personal love lives. Kakashi, take the traitor to ANBU. Naruto, if I find out that you tried to stop Sasuke from being interrogated, I will restrict you to only D-ranked missions for a month." Tsunade broke the silence. Naruto said nothing, fearing her threat too much to respond. He never wanted to relive the hell known as genin missions ever again. Both of them bowed, and Tsunade shooed them away.

"Sakura, I need you to stay for a minute." She said as everyone turned to leave. Sakura gulped, but stayed nonetheless. She did not want to face the fury of her instructor, but she could not very well run away either.

"Yes, Tsunade-sama?" She asked, turning back to the blond Hokage. Tsunade sighed, and signaled her to move closer. Without a word, she sealed the room, so that it was soundproofed. She knew that Kakashi and Naruto were no doubt just outside of the door, waiting to hear what was being said. It was none of their business though; it was strictly between student and teacher.

"It seems that you moved on while no one was looking." She smiled softly, reminding Sakura so much of her deceased mother. Tsunade was her mother now, she had to scold herself. She had no family now, only the village and its citizens. And Itachi now, too.

"I wasted too many years regretting him, wishing for him to return." Sakura answered simply, giving her shishou a shrug of nonchalance. Tsunade shook her head and sighed, but understood what her apprentice was saying.

"Who is it now, Sakura? I know for a fact that before that seduction mission that went awry, you were still absolutely obsessed with Sasuke. Now though, you seem to not care for him at all. You must have met someone better than him, or you never would have changed your mind so easily."

Sakura looked down, unsure of what to say. She could not very well tell Tsunade about Itachi being her lover; she would be sent straight out of konoha, but not until after a strenuous interrogation. She was going to have to lie, and despite her being a kunoichi, deceiving others was not one of her best skills.

"I do not love anyone. I just decided that Sasuke was not worth the trouble." Sakura muttered, looking down at her feet instead of at Tsunade. It was embarrassing that everyone thought they needed to make sure she was all right. Her love life was no one's business but her own. It was obvious that she was lying, and Tsunade picked up on that quickly. She laughed in understanding.

"Hey, there is no need to lie to _me_, Sakura. It is your personal business, I know that. I am merely teasing you. I do not care who he is, as long as it does not come between your duties as a kunoichi. He had better be something else though. I hope he is worthy"

Sakura smiled. "I cannot think of anyone more worthy than he is."

Tsunade laughed again. "Enough, I do not want to hear about how great the man is, as long as he does not break your heart." It was good that Sakura had really moved on. She deserved more than to wait for someone that was never going to accept her. She was much better off in this new relationship, it was more healthy for her to continue on with her life, with whoever she was now with. As long as he did not break her heart like Sasuke had; if he did, he was going to meet at very painful end.

"He will not. He could never hurt me." Sakura sighed longingly.

"Smart. If he is not a strong as you, then he will never be able to hurt you. I have trained you well." Tsunade nodded her head knowledgeably. Sakura chuckled nervously. That had not been what she meant, but it did not matter. Itachi was very capable of physically injuring her, not that he ever would. What she had been saying was that he would never want to break her heart as Sasuke had; he cared too much.

"Sakura, you should get some rest, you look rather tired. I will not keep you here any longer." Her shishou continued, observing her rather put out student. It was not much of a surprise; according to the mission report they gave her, Sakura had single-handedly defeated Uchiha Sasuke. Quite a feat for her young apprentice.

"Thank you." Sakura replied, leaving the room. She walked silently down the streets of Konoha, making way back to her apartment. Part of her wondered if Itachi was already waiting for her, sitting down on her couch. It would be nice, but she partially wanted to be alone for a little, to sort out her thoughts. It had been a week and a half since meeting Itachi at the bar, and so much had happened since then.

Her small apartment was quiet when she unlocked the door; silent and empty. She sighed, making her way into the kitchen. She had not eaten anything but food pills and freeze dried food for the past few days, and she wanted something real in her stomach. More than that, she wanted to relax. With that in mind, she went into the fridge and pulled out a bottle of unfiltered sake. It would not fill her stomach, but it would unwind her tightly coiled muscles, with the help of a long bath.

Sakura went into the bathroom, being sure to bring a nice, fluffy robe with her, and began to draw a bath. The porcelain tub quickly started to fill, and Sakura dropped a bubble bath bar into the steaming water. She peeled the sweaty, dirt covered vest from her bodice, and stripped the rest of her clothes off, leaving them on the floor for her to deal with later. The bath tub filled, she poured herself a generous glass of sake, and then slunk into the hot water.

Sakura sipped at her sake, feeling utterly at peace. The knotted muscles of her back loosened, thanks to the wonderful combination of alcohol and hot, floral scented water. Now, she could finally think clearly.

Sasuke was back. He only had to look at her for a few seconds to realize where she stood with his older brother. Sakura was going to have to stay away from him as much as possible, without looking too suspicious. It had to be because of his Sharingan that he figured it out, but Itachi's calming chakra was easy enough to sense, so she had to be careful around Kakashi as well. She was lucky he had not sensed Itachi's lingering chakra on her yet.

Kakashi and Naruto were going to figure her out eventually, and she had to be prepared for that. Naruto already thought it was strange that she was taking so many 'showers,' so she was going to have to come up with a better cover. If the most oblivious shinobi in Konoha history had figured that much already, then others would as well.

She sunk lower into the water, letting the heat consume her. Nothing was better than this, she told herself. Besides Itachi.

Itachi. There was a whole other dilemma. What exactly were they? They had met in a grungy bar, on a _mission_, and then had haphazardly made love to each other. She had never thought that she would see him again after that beautiful night, but then he had showed up in her apartment. She had been overjoyed, but why? Why did it make her so happy for him to be there?

Perhaps he merely made her feel cared about, after so many years of neglect. He doted after her, something she had never before experienced. She was special now, she was needed by someone for something outside of missions and outside of the hospital. He needed her, which is what she needed _him_ for.

Sakura sighed. It was too much to deal with, but when was her life ever easy? Never. That was how things were, and it was not ever going to change. She was going to have to get used to difficulty.

There was a very sudden knock on the window to her bathroom, causing Sakura to nearly jump out of the bath in shock.

"Not now, Kakashi!" She shouted. He was the only one she knew of that made it a habit of entering through windows. He seemed to think that it made him look cooler. She did not even think that it could be anyone but him.

"I am not your sensei, Sakura." That smooth tenor called softly, opening the bathroom window. He slipped into the small room, crouching down next to her. She blushed, though it was not all that necessary. He had seen her naked before, so there was nothing left to hide. Itachi smirked, leaning next to her to kiss her cheek.

"I missed you." Sakura whispered, tilting her head back as Itachi traced his mouth down the contours of her neck.

"And I you." He murmured back. She lifted a hand to his face, and ran it through his silky, velvet hair. Sakura purred longingly as he sucked on the skin at the base of her neck.

"I see that you had a successful mission." He said, pulling away. She groaned in disappointment, wanting him to continue his ministrations.

"Of course, you would know that before anyone else. _You_ were the one that commissioned it in the first place." She grumbled. He smirked, kissing her cheek again.

"You figured out that much, I see." He chuckled. She was smart, and he considered himself lucky to have such a clever kunoichi. Sakura was all his, and he was proud of that fact.

"Of course I did. You are the only one who could have dibs on Sasuke without being suspected of anything. You are, naturally, one of Jiraya's contacts. It did not take much to figure that out."

"As astute as always, Sakura." He muttered, stealing a sip of her sake.

"It was obvious." She grumbled. "And is that it? Are you going to join me or not?"

Again, he chuckled. She got to her knees, and from there helped him pull his shirt over his head. Itachi tugged his pants off, and slipped into the water next to her. Their lips met in a frenzy, and their bodies slid against each other's in the water. A rough hand ran against the inside of her thigh, sending electricity through her limbs.

Sakura gasped and groaned in pleasure as his fingers prodded her playfully. He smirked, toying with her womanhood dedicatedly. She fussed loudly, but let him do as he wished.

In her bathroom, Itachi made love to Sakura. There was no pain this time, only longing and need, consuming them both in passion. His eyes stayed a deep, charcoal black, hazing over with lust and swallowing her whole. He breathed her in the whole time, watching as she parted her reddened, swollen lips to call his name, as she arched her back delicately into him, and he looked into her vibrantly green eyes as she submitted to him. He could feel her short nails digging into his back, creating small, half-moon indentations into his skin, enticing him to groan.

Sakura let her eyes move along the plains of his glorious body, her hands following after them. Every hit was harder, faster and went deeper than the last, until he found that bundle of nerves that made her scream in delight. Every moment was timeless, every second was not long enough. They were a mass of contradictions, and neither of them cared. Nothing mattered, as long as he could make her feel as she did then.

It was beautiful, and she knew it. It was something she could never feel with anyone but with Itachi. She could only shout his name in the same way she was then, could only feel so loved when he touched her as he was. No one else could give this to her like Itachi could, even if they tried to. He was her first, and she hoped he would be the last man she made love to. It would not be the same if it was with anyone but Itachi.

Was this what it meant to be in love? Was it when she decided she could never let another man touch her again, or when he decided that she was the only woman that he could ever want to see under him as he made love to her? It did not really matter if what they felt was love, or if it was simply lust, but neither could get enough of the feeling. It fed their empty, broken souls; with ever touch, every kiss, every thrust. Nothing made sense, but everything was perfectly clear. They were meant to be, no matter how cliche it sounded, nor how many people stood between them.

"I want to remember this, forever, Sakura." Itachi said, his voice broken with desire and desperation. She nodded her head absentmindedly. She lifted her head to meet his silky lips, his tongue entering her mouth with expertise. His tongue was hot and slick against hers, trying to coax hers into the same franticness his held.

"You will, Itachi. I will remember this until the day I die." She answered back in short whispers. It was her secret, and now his as well. The secret of happiness, she liked to think. It had started between them as something of necessity, and perhaps it still was, but it was somehow different now.

Part of her had felt guilty in that bar as she let Itachi do as he wanted, but now she had no remorse, no regret. There was only pure, raw emotion. Anger at the world, pity for themselves and each other, and then something else. Something neither would admit aloud, but both believed it to be love. It was optimistic in Itachi's view, but he hoped it was. He found himself hoping that Sakura was 'the one.' He was not sure what that entailed, nor how to tell if it was true, but he could not see himself with anyone but Sakura, and that was what counted, if nothing else.

They parted after one last frenzy, resting next to each other in the warm water. He let his eyes droop shut, him being totally comfortable around Sakura. He had never experienced it before, but for reasons untold, he felt entirely at peace with her at his side, he even felt safe. It was something he was unfamiliar with, and somewhat wary of, but he enjoyed it.

He liked how she was not an extremely talkative woman like most. She was content in the silence as he was, and did not see it necessary to start needless chatter. There was a certain serenity in the quiet of her bathroom, and even ease. He did not make sense of it, but he could have been perfectly all right with laying in that tub for eternity, neither of them speaking or moving once.

Itachi was the first to speak. "Sakura, what would you do if I died?" He asked. It was not usual for him to be so curious, he normally he did not care at all. It was different now though, her opinion mattered to him now. It was such a strange, unnecessary thing to ask her, but he needed to know. He watched as her face scrunched up in thought. It was clear that she did not like the idea of him dying, just by how her lips pursed together in distress.

"I do not know what I would do." She answered in truthfulness. She would be devastated, that much she was certain. She would grieve him, she would not be able to think straight for a long time.

"Would you miss me?"

Sakura sat up abruptly and stared him straight in the eyes. His question angered her, he quickly deduced. "What the hell kind of question is that? Of course I would miss you, Itachi!" She said, the water of the bath lapping at her hips, moving in her enthusiasm. He sat up as well, the warm water sloshing between them.

"I would miss you too." He murmured awkwardly. It was not something he was used to, stating his feelings like he was.

She sighed tiredly. "You are too morbid, Itachi."

"I know," was his answer. He had spent too much time torturing himself over the massacre of his family, and then planning for too long for Sasuke to kill him. Those plans did not apply any longer, but he spent too many years thinking about it. His mind was pressed into darkness, forced into it by his cruel life. She wanted to heal that; to heal the emotional scars like she could the physical wounds.

Sakura leaned into him, trying more than anything to console his disturbed mind. She took her dainty arms and wrapped them about his thin waist. Itachi laid his forehead on her shoulder, resting with her. She cared, and it was the only thing that he needed to know. Mentally, he broke down and cried. Outside though, the only thing he could do was let her comfort him so carefully.

Sasuke woke in the darkness of an ANBU cell, chained to the wall and feeling so very alone. Suigetsu, Karin and Juugo were no where to be seen, not that he ever thought they would put them all in the same cell. He tried to remember what had happened; how he came to be chained up in Konoha. He recalled meeting up with team seven.

Sakura had dragged him away from everyone, and they had fought, but that was all he could recall. There was only a haze in place of their conversation. He remembered feeling more angry than he had in a long time, and feeling betrayed, but he could not remember why that was. He could see their battle replaying in his head over and over again, but there was nothing to lead up to it. She had tricked him in the end, pretending to be out of chakra. Sakura, of all people, had defeated him, but he knew not why.

**AN: Thanks for reading my latest chapter! Please review!**

**Oh, incase you were curious. Nigorizake is unfiltered sake. Yummy!**


	5. Chapter 5

Itachi blinked his eyes open, turning to look at his sleeping lover. She had herself tangled in a mass of blankets and sheets, covering her bare form. He shivered slightly, then glared at the open window. Itachi had forgotten how cold mornings could be in Konoha, and had left the window open through the duration of the night. Now, as much as he hated to admit having any weakness, he was cold. He sat up, letting the blankets pool at his hips. Itachi smirked at Sakura as the sheets uncovered by a little bit. He slid off the bed and shut the window.

It was quiet, almost to quiet in his opinion. He switched to his sharingan and let his eyes wander the empty streets. There was nothing out of the ordinary to be seen, and he turned back to the room. He let his eyes fall on Sakura, before they widened in utter shock.

With the sharingan, he could see every contour of her body, and then he could see the chakra flowing through her. This was not unusual, but the small collection of chakra that was developing in her lower abdomen was what caught his attention. It was almost too miniscule to be seen even with his adept sharingan, but was unmistakably there.

Itachi was unsure of what to think or do. There was only one thing that it could be, and it was a logical result to their actions thus far. Numerous times they had recklessly made love, never thinking of what could happen if they never used any form of protection. What _had_ happened.

He sat down next to her on the bed, his eyes never leaving the accumulation of chakra in her womb. Itachi felt numbed, the reality check he had just received too much for his mind to process. What would Sakura think of him when she found out? What did _he_ think? It was a lot to comprehend.

After the many years he had spent destroying, breaking things down to their most basic building blocks, he had created something. He had killed without visible reserve, and now he had made life. A child with Sakura... It was mind-boggling. He wondered if she would be angry when she found out. He had no right to ask her to keep their child.

It was a curious thought, but he wondered if Sakura would be willing to birth his child; their child. He aspired to see her full with something they had created together, but he could not expect her to share his opinion. She was a kunoichi, and so pregnancy would take away from that. He could never ask so much of her.

Sakura stirred, feeling Itachi's calculating stare on her. She propped herself up onto her elbows, smiling weakly. He could not meet her eyes, nor smile back at her. Sakura's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. She did not like the bewilderment she found in his eyes. It was unlike Itachi to ever be confused, and it sort of scared her that he was now.

"Itachi, what is it?" She asked softly, sitting up. He could not say anything, he was to surprised by what he saw to do so.

"Itachi?" She called, bringing him out of his daze. She carefully brought a hand to caress his cheek. "Is there something wrong?"

Sakura followed his line of vision, until she was looking down at her stomach. She looked at the smooth skin for a few seconds before her head shot up to meet a pair of sharingan. He could see something that she could not, that much she was certain.

"Sakura, you are..." Itachi found himself unable to finish his statement. How could he ever tell her? He tried again. "It is right in there, it..."

"In here?" She whispered, touching her flat stomach with the hand that was not holding his cheek. He nodded his head, unable to form words. Sakura charged probing chakra into her hand, then let it seep into her abdomen. A few seconds of silence passed, until she gasped in astonishment. She checked again, and then again, but she was certain of what was there.

"Itachi... I am... Pregnant." She said, her voice faltering. He let their eyes meet a second time, and she saw the amazement and subtle pain they held. He was afraid of how she would react, and understandably so. She did not like how miserably confused he looked. Sakura raised another hand, so she was holding his face with both.

"I apologize, Sakura. I never intended for this to happen, but-"

"Calm down, Itachi. I am not angry at you for this, and I do not regret anything we have done together." Sakura cut him off. His eyebrows scrunched, and he smiled softly. Neither knew what was going to happen, but Itachi now saw that was all right.

"Do you regret it at all, Itachi? If I have our child, a lot of things will have to change; I refuse to raise him on my own." She whispered.

"Sakura, I could never regret what we have done, and I could never let you raise our child alone. I will find a way for this to work, because I _want_ to have our child." Nervously, as if afraid he would break something, Itachi placed a hand on her abdomen. She chuckled, and reached up to kiss him. Against her lips, Sakura felt Itachi smile widely.

It made him so happy, indescribably so. It felt so amazing, thinking that he had made something that he could care for, nurture and love. What felt even better was that Sakura wanted this as much as he did. They were undeniably connected with each other now, nothing could tear apart the bond created except death itself. It was strange to think that something so small could change so much in either of their lives.

"What about Akatsuki? Will they have any objection?" She asked slowly, pulling herself from his lips. He shook his head.

"I am leaving Akatsuki. I cannot have you, or our child, be connected with such a dangerous organization. I do not wish to have our child hunted because of what I have done." He said, his fingers spreading about her flat stomach protectively. Sakura smiled; Itachi was going to be a wonderful father, she could tell already. She found herself proud that it was her giving him the next of the Uchiha clan.

"Can you tell how long ago you conceived?" He asked after letting his last statement sink in. She smiled, nodding her head.

"The night in the bar." She elaborated. If it had been any sooner, then she might not have been able to sense the collection of chakra, and he would not have been able to see it with his sharingan.

"I should have had the common sense to use some sort of protection." Itachi said, his eyes downcast. Sakura shook her head in disagreement, and as unusual as it was, she was looking forward to having his child, despite how complicated it would make their lives. She would not have Itachi regret their irresponsible decision to make love that night, even if it was for her expense.

"You are amazing, did you know that?" He murmured, kissing her forehead. Itachi could think of no reason for her to want to bear his spawn, for that was what most would consider their child, and yet, she was more than willing. She giggled at his soft spoken compliment, not seeing anything about her that was so wonderful.

Almost abruptly, Itachi froze, a grimace dawning his face. Two very familiar presences could be sensed from outside the apartment. Instinctively, she froze next him, recognizing those two people anywhere. Their eyes met, and they both knew there was not nearly enough time for them to dress and get Itachi out of the apartment. Both knew that they would have had to reveal the nature of their relationship eventually, but for it to happen so soon, it was unsatisfactory. Itachi had hoped to be able to approach this topic with others with some delicacy, but that no longer seemed possible. The two men outside were releasing a potentially dangerous aura, meaning they probably already knew who Sakura's little visitor was.

In an absolute flurry, both grabbed any sort of clothes that was in reach. As the door blew open, two infuriated konoha shinobi entered the threshold, finding Sakura in an over sized, navy blue tee, and Itachi in a pair of black shinobi pants. Out of natural tendency, Sakura stood in front of her lover, both arms stretched out protectively. Kakashi, with his Sharingan already out in preparation, recoiled at what he saw. To say he was astounded would have been an understatement.

"Sakura, stand back." Itachi said calmly, in a way that demanded both attention and obedience. Sakura dared not refuse his request, and so she stepped to the side. Itachi, with his alpha male instincts, stood between her and the offending intruders. Naruto, who was not understanding this entire situation because he lacked sharingan, growled at Itachi's obvious affections.

"Sakura-chan! What the fuck is this bastard doing here!" Naruto yelled, pointing an accusing finger at Itachi. Kakashi said nothing, waiting for the same answer, and glaring at the pair through his mismatched eyes. Itachi's arm shot out to stop Sakura from pouncing on the loud mouthed knucklehead.

"Calm down. I am sure these two can handle this like mature shinobi." Itachi murmured doubtfully. Naruto snarled at the insult, while Kakashi continued to glower.

"Itachi is doing no harm, as you can obviously see!" Sakura yelled at her teammates, indicating her seemingly mild lover. Itachi shook his head; this was not how he wanted the conversation to head. It was supposed to be under regular circumstances, where everyone was dressed properly, and they could talk the whole ordeal out with some level of maturity. Apparently, his wishes were not important.

"How the hell are we supposed to know that? This asshole just appears in your apartment from out of the blue! Not to mention you both look like..." Naruto could not even finish his statement, because he quickly put together the pieces of what Itachi had been doing there. With what they were both wearing, it was sad he had not realized it sooner.

"Sakura! How could you! With him? You let this bastard do that?" Naruto shrilled with new found fury. Itachi sighed. He was not much of a morning person as it was, but this was not making his day. Then again, the fact that Sakura was pregnant canceled out anything else that the world cared to throw at him. Still, being called a bastard not once, but twice; it did not lighten his mood.

"I can assure you, Naruto-kun, I was not born out of wedlock. I may be several different things in your point of view, but I am most certainly not a bastard." Itachi said with a scary calmness about him. Naruto flinched at how the atmosphere had just changed. He guessed insulting Itachi so brashly had not been the smartest things he had done.

_You may not be a bastard, but are you willing to father a child out of wedlock?_ Kakashi thought mildly, observing the situation as it unfolded. Itachi only had to look Kakashi in the eye to know exactly what he was thinking. No, he was not willing to have Sakura birth an illegitimate child, but he was not ready to breach that subject with her.

"Well, you are still an asshole." Naruto grumbled stubbornly. Sakura seriously wondered when her friend was ever going to learn. Thankfully, before Itachi could do something potentially threatening, there was a subtle alarm sound, originating from his Akatsuki ring.

"As much as I would love to continue this, I must be on my way." Itachi sighed mockingly, nodding towards both intruders. Sakura was going to be in trouble when she was left alone, so he was left with no choice than to give her _the_ hiding place. He turned to his lover, and unconcerned with how their two visitors could react, he snaked both arms around her boldly, pulling her into him.

He leaned down to whisper in her ear. "The truth is hidden in the Uchiha compound. In the Nakano temple, under the seventh farthest tatami mat, there is a secret entrance into a meeting room. There will be will be a wall with a sacred Uchiha scroll with secrets to the clan sitting on a stone chest. The wall left to that is false. Behind it, you will find everything you need to get you out of trouble. Be sure that no one follows you, and that it is left exactly as you found it."

Sakura took a second to soak in all the new information, before nodding her head in affirmation. "I will find it, I promise." Sakura replied quietly, only loud enough for Itachi to hear her. He smiled proudly down at her, and gave her a chaste kiss, before disappearing from the room. She was left, grinning like a fool, in his wake, both of her teammates glowering, waiting for some sort of explanation.

She turned back to Kakashi and Naruto, still smiling like a maniac. "Give me a few hours, and I will tell you two anything you want to know, with proof to support it." Sakura told them, shooing her visitors from her apartment. Kakashi gave her a reproachful glance, but after looking at that collection of chakra in the pit of her stomach, he backed away. In four hours, he was going to come for her, whether she was ready or not. He sincerely hoped she had something good up her sleeve, or she was going to be locked up right next to Sasuke. Sakura was lucky no one had gone to Tsunade yet as it was.

Alone in her apartment now, Sakura let out a shaky sigh. She was only seventeen, but she found herself in the compromising predicament of being pregnant. She looked down at her stomach in a sort of shell-shocked amazement. Life truly was a miracle, and it certainly did not wait for the most convenient times, it seemed.

Dressed for success in her red vest and beige skirt, Sakura left her humble abode and headed straight to the Nakano temple. She had always wanted to go into the Uchiha compound as a child, and she now had an excuse. If she had tried entering while the clan was still alive and thriving, then she probably would not have made it far, but there was no one to stop her now.

Going exactly where Itachi had instructed, Sakura reached a small temple. Under the tatami mat, she quickly found a trapdoor. She opened it, and before even entering the closed off area, she could smell the must and mildew from neglect. Using a candle from the temple above, Sakura stumbled down the faulty wooden steps, slowly reaching her destination. The Uchiha meeting room. She felt out of place there, knowing how many secrets had been passed in the thick darkness, how many conspiracies had been planned and then left untried. Sakura shuddered at the thought of what could have been if Itachi had not revealed to the hokage what the Uchiha had been scheming.

It did not take long for Sakura to find the hidden compartment, behind the false wall. There was a small desk, where she placed the candleholder. There were books and scrolls scattered about the small chamber, left askew to collect dust. Sakura knew Itachi well enough to deduce that he had not left that mess. Someone had been searching for something, a long time ago, by the looks of it. Sakura hoped that whoever they were, they had not found whatever it was, since it was most likely the same thing she was after.

Sakura picked up the closest scroll, finding to be about Uchiha clan traditions. Though she was sure it would be interesting to find out why Uchiha all seemed to speak the same noncommittal language, it was not what she was looking for. She grabbed the next, which was on different Uchiha trademark jutsu. Again, interesting, but not what she needed. She started a pile, until she had gone through every scroll, with everything from Sharingan secrets to ancient Uchiha history. There was nothing having to do with the Uchiha clan massacre, or even the intended takeover.

The distinct feeling of panic rose in her chest, making Sakura want to frantically throw everything about. Slowly, she took in a long, deep breath, and then, still maintaining composure, she let it out. There was still the desk, with its several drawers, so she told herself she had nothing to stress over. In the top drawer, she found a few blank scrolls, ink and brushes, waiting to be used. The second held nothing but various files on clan members, the third with the same. Holding her breath, Sakura opened the fourth, and final drawer.

In the fourth drawer there was nothing but a thick layer of dust. Sakura stared down at it in disbelief. That could not be it, there had to be something in it, or the Uchiha clan massacre truly was already covered up completely. Refusing to let it end in such an anti-climatic way, Sakura reached her hand in with a leap of hope, and ran it along the bottom. She felt nothing but the dust though. Frustrated, Sakura skimmed her fingers along the bottom edge.

Her breath hitched as she felt a small gap in the base, touching the edge. This was not over yet. It was a hole, she discovered, meaning something was hidden below it; a secret compartment. Sakura hooked her finger under the base, using the hole, then lifted it away. She felt around, until her hand met with something small and cold, something metal. Sakura grabbed it to inspect under the candlelight. It was a key, with the numbers _3917 _written on it.

Instantly, she knew where this key went. Sakura knew now that the mission orders will still untouched, and hidden right under ANBU's nose. Kakashi had shown off a similar key once, when Naruto had asked what the ANBU operatives had been like. _'Well, they give you a great place to hide things.'_ Once you became ANBU, you were given your own locker, never to be seen by anyone else. It was never cleaned out by anyone, not even when an operative died. There was only one key for each locker, and it was absolutely forbidden to open someone else's, even if they betrayed the village.

Excited, Sakura returned things back to their previous disorder, and then resealed the compartment. It was impossible to tell she had been there, and with the key held in her clenched hand, she left the meeting room. In a flurry of pink and red, Sakura dashed to the hokage tower, where she knew the ANBU kept their lockers, deep underground.

Before she took the steps down to the locker room, Sakura used a henge to disguise herself as Kakashi. He was the only one she was certain had a locker, and she was not sure whether their would be guards or not. Much to her relief, when she got to the bottom of the stairwell, there was no one to be seen. Sighing, she looked down the rows of lockers. They numbered off from one, all the way to ten thousand, she knew. ANBU from the very first years of konoha, all to the lockers sitting in waiting, prepared for future members.

Sakura walked along the wall, passing by each locker, until she found the one she was looking for. _3915...3916...3917_. Anxiously, Sakura took the key and put it into the hole, turning it with some difficulty. It had not been used for almost a decade, so it should not have been all that surprising. It opened with a creak, and right on top of several other scrolls of paper, she found what she needed. Itachi's mission orders to massacre his entire clan, and then go into exile.

With its hokage seal stamped on the front, Sakura took it, then locked everything back up. Here it was, exactly what Itachi needed her to find. Above ground, Sakura released the henge, then with great trepidation, she returned to her small flat. Sakura only had time to open the scroll before her teammates barged into her apartment.

"Now will you explain this little ordeal, or shall I have to hand over my own student to the ANBU interrogators?" Kakashi asked, his tone disconnected. He did not want another one of his students to be sent for questioning and jail time, but if it meant the safety of Konoha was in jeopardy, then he would do his duty.

"I see you have no time to waste." Sakura grumbled, handing her sensei the scroll. He looked at her questioningly, wondering what she wanted him to do, but when she said nothing, he opened it. Naruto stood next to Kakashi, unable to see the scroll's contents. Kakashi read it through once, and out of pure incredulity, read it again, line for line, two more times.

"Where did he hide this?" He asked, no longer suspicious of Itachi. Naruto took the scroll to see why his sensei had changed his mood so abruptly.

"In his locker." She replied, a cheeky smile showing on her face. He frowned in disapproval, not pleased that she had snuck into the bowels of ANBU to steal a scroll, though he supposed she had no other choice.

"I hope you had his permission to go into his locker." He muttered, looking at her skeptically.

"He told me to get it, knowing where it was. If he objected to me going there, then he would not have told me to get his mission orders." Sakura shrugged. He sighed; there was so much wrong with this whole situation.

Finally, after Naruto, who was rather slow at reading in kanji, finished. He looked up in awe, for once not having something irritating to say. The three of them stood for a moment in silence, waiting for something to be said. Kakashi, figuring that Naruto was too in shock to say much of anything, broke the silence.

"How did you meet Itachi?"

Sakura laughed, recalling her haphazard actions at the bar with fondness. "Do you remember that mission I returned from around three weeks ago? The failed subduction mission? Well, he's the reason I failed. We had been assigned the same target."

They stared at her, both silently trying to figure out why Itachi had been assigned to seduce someone.

"When we met, he was disguised as a woman, if that explains anything." Sakura giggled softly. Both stared at her, trying to imagine the infamous shinobi as a woman. Naruto snorted at the very comical idea.

"Did you fight over the target, or something? Is that why the man died?" Naruto asked curiously, not understanding how the mission failed. Unless Itachi had beaten her to the information.

"I see the bare minimum information is not going to be enough for you." Sakura muttered more to herself than to them. "If you must know, that man was sick and twisted, who had a certain fascination with watching two women make-out. That was how I figured out he was definitely not a woman. I forced him to release his henge, which he refused to do with lingerie on, and the rest, as they say, was history."

Kakashi looked at her curiously. "So that must have been when _that_ happened." He said, indicating her stomach. She raised her hand to her abdomen protectively, then looked up at her two teammates, her face begging.

"You two will not tell anyone yet, will you?" She pleaded. Naruto, whom Kakashi had failed to notify about Sakura's pregnancy, looked between his sensei and the woman he had been partnered with for his entire shinobi career in confusion.

"I will not tell anyone. Do you know if he intends for him to be born out of wedlock?"

"I do not know yet." She murmured. She was afraid that Itachi would not want to settle down with their child, now that he might have the freedom the truth would give him. They never had the time to speak of it.

It finally clicked in Naruto's head. Sakura was pregnant, with Itachi's child. The very thought was disturbing to him, but he had no right to judge her, being the jinchuriki to the kyuubi. Nonetheless, he was going to have to ring Itachi's neck for getting Sakura pregnant, whether he was innocent or not.

**AN: PLEASE REVIEW!!**


	6. Chapter 6

The two days that Itachi had spent apart from Sakura so far seemed infinitely longer than how it should. He knew she was well out of trouble, at least from Naruto and the copy-nin. From everyone else, he had no idea. He had no doubt that Sakura had found his copy of the mission orders to massacre the Uchiha clan, and its authenticity would frighten the council, Danzo especially, since he knew they had attempted to retrieve it after his departure. Now that there was unsettling information on Konoha's past, he was certain their would be some sort of uproar. He did not mind this so much, as long as he was accepted back into the village. He had made Sakura a promise that she would not raise their child alone, and he intended to keep this promise.

Itachi shifted slightly on his bed, feeling strangely lonely, as Sakura was not curled up beside him. It was still early in the morning at the Akatsuki base, and he was probably the only one up, besides Pein. The sun had not even begun to bring light into the dark sky.

He wished he was asleep then, but his mind was too preoccupied. He, somehow, needed to find a way to leave Akatsuki, without any of its members discovering his reasoning behind it. If anyone found out about Sakura and their unborn child, she would be facing a fathomless amount of danger. Pein would not like the idea of losing his organization's most talented member, but Itachi could not risk staying in the group with Sakura pregnant. Besides that fact, Itachi believed it was high time he went home anyway. He had suffered for years, all for the benefit of Konoha and his brother, and so far, he had gotten nothing in return for it. He deserved some sort of recognition for his years of misery in exile.

Again, he shifted, this time looking up at the ceiling. He studied the cracks and fissures found there, finding pictures in their random fixations. He always did this when he could not sleep, or when he merely needed to think. At this point, he needed both to sleep _and_ to think, though he supposed it was not possible to do both at the same time.

Silently, he grunted in frustration to himself, turning onto his side. It was always so much easier to stay asleep when he had Sakura laying next to him, with her warmth seeping into him through the contact of skin on skin. It was strange to think that sleeping with someone beside him was much easier than without, despite his wariness as a shinobi. It should have been more difficult, only it was not. Sakura had a healing aura surrounding her, mending everything she touched or got near to. That was why she was capable of helping him with his insomnia, despite his failed attempts of fixing the problems with medications.

After a long hour of staring at nothing in particular, the sun began to slowly rise, covering his room with a bluish hue through the glass window. He sighed, supposing it was no longer too early for him to move about the base without waking other members, and slowly sat up. His room was cold, but then again, everything about Akatsuki, or Rain for that matter, was. Itachi's feet tentatively stepped on the stone flooring, already knowing how cold it would be. As always, in the privacy of his own room, Itachi allowed himself to show a moment of weakness, and he shivered in reaction to the cool air.

Tiredly, Itachi grabbed a set of clothes from his dresser, then after putting on his cloak to fight his hatred for being cold, he left his room with every intention in taking a nice, long shower. Other Akatsuki were up as well by then, and Itachi ignored Deidara's subtle glare as they crossed paths in the hall. He met no one else, much to his gratification, and so he made it to the bathroom in peace.

Most people did not know this (besides perhaps Kisame), but Itachi had a thing about getting his long showers in the morning. When the water ran out, or someone uninvitedly barges in on him, he automatically takes this as an example for what the rest of the day will be. He was not, in any way, shape or form, a morning person, and so these steamy, twenty minute showers, followed by a strong cup of tea afterwards, were the only things to keep him mentally sane throughout the day. When other people interrupted him, he was bound to have a foul mood for the rest of the day.

This was the reason that, when Kisame had been ordered by Pein to get Itachi _immediately_, he knew he would have to go through hell, even if he was only the messenger. Itachi did not care. You bother him before he was done, and you were dealing with an exceptionally pissed Uchiha, who would gladly pull out your intestines then use them to hang you. Or worse than that, castrate you on the spot. Kisame frowned at remembering when both Tobi and Hidan had only just barely gotten away from the irate Uchiha, on several occasions.

Kisame reminded himself that he was one of the seven swordsmen of mist, and that he should not be wary of his partner, no matter how cold blooded he appeared to be. Itachi's past demanded respect, he would not deny that, but Kisame knew this was not reason enough to fear Itachi. Not that he did.

With this in mind, Kisame knocked on the door. There was no response at first, which he assumed meant that Itachi was ignoring him, but very suddenly, the water was shut off. The door opened seconds later, Itachi's hair still down and dripping, his hand holding a white towel around his hips. His eyes narrowed in displeasure, and a small, nearly invisible frown showed on his face.

"I hope you had a good reason for interrupting me, Kisame." Itachi glowered dangerously, his Sharingan instinctively turning on. Kisame kept his face blank, knowing that Itachi could see fear in a simple flicker in the eye, or twitch of the lips. Not that he was afraid, he had no reason to be.

"Pein-sama needs to see you. He said to come immediately." Kisame growled back in his usual snarly tone. The two partners stared at each other for a moment more, and then Itachi sighed in exasperation. He swore, if he did not leave soon, this organization was going to be the death of him.

"Very well, tell Pein-sama that I will be there in a minute." Itachi answered with boredom, about to close the door.

"He said for us both to come together." Kisame informed him. In other words, Kisame was going to wait outside of the bathroom for him, to be sure that Itachi did not hop back into the shower for another five minutes. Itachi frowned at this revelation, but knew better than to argue.

"I will be out in a moment." Itachi finally said quietly, closing the door. There goes any chance of a good day, he inwardly chided, right down the drain. After throughly drying himself off, he pulled on his navy blue pants and netting shirt, then running a brush through his long hair. Putting the black strands into a loose pony tail, Itachi allowed himself to look into the semi-fogged up mirror.

The dark circles under his eyes were returning, after two almost sleepless nights, and trying to come up with multiple solutions to his problem. He needed to leave the godforsaken group, before it really _did_ kill him. He looked half dead as it was, with his fair complexion and the deep marks under his eyes. He looked like a goddamned zombie, or some other variation of the undead. He grimaced, then turned from his reflexion.

Donning his black Akatsuki cloak, Itachi left the bathroom, a cloud of steam escaping with him. As they walked together down the familiar halls of the Akatsuki headquarters, Kisame distantly observed his partner.

"There is something different about you, Itachi." Kisame finally remarked, keeping his eyes in front of him. Itachi froze for a second, and then continued, without his shark-like partner never having noticed his shock.

"Is that so?" He asked with nonchalance. He knew better than to make a big deal of Kisame's comment, or Itachi would seem suspicious. He did not need someone tailing him because of other Akatsuki member's paranoia, not when it would lead them straight to Sakura.

"Yeah. You seem sort of happy about something. Get a nice kill in recently, or something?" Kisame asked carefully. Itachi shrugged.

"Or something." His partner replied blandly. Itachi was thankful when they stood outside of Pein's office, meaning their conversation was over. From years of them spending time together, it seemed that Kisame had gotten better at reading him, which Itachi did not particularly like.

The thick, wooden doors to Pein's office opened for them, courtesy of Konan. The silent, dreary woman then drifted to the shadows of the room, somewhere behind the leader's desk. Without any fear, Itachi looked straight into Pein's Rin'negan, his own Sharingan spinning crimson. Their leader's face showed no emotions, beside the slight downturn of his lips. He, obviously, was not pleased about something.

"Nice to see _you_ around, Uchiha. I was almost certain you had left the organization for good." Pein commented with a snarl. Itachi's eye twitched, which did not go unnoticed by their leader. It now made sense that Pein had demanded to see them instantly or more specifically, see _him_ instantly. Akatsuki was beginning to realize his absences.

Itachi made no response, now understanding the entire situation. Whatever Pein was thinking, Kisame must have been in on it as well, based on their conversation before entering the poorly lit office. He wondered if they had started tracking his movements during his time away yet, or if they even intended to.

"Would you mind telling your colleague and I _why_ you have been disappearing so much lately?" Pein asked with forced patience. Itachi did not really want to answer this question, but he knew he could not leave it alone. That would seem suspicious. Perhaps he should tell them the truth, that he was in Konoha. It was simple enough to come up with an excuse for being there; collection information on the kyuubi, or even something having to do with the clan. Still, if they decided to trace him to Konoha next time he went, and saw him with Sakura instead, it would be impossible to cover up his lies.

"I was seeking information on the kyuubi." Itachi finally said, covering his voice and slight expressions with indifference. Pein, however, was pacified with this news, though perhaps a little confused as to why he had not taken Kisame with him. Kisame glanced at his partner, already knowing that he had just full-out lied.

"I would prefer that you remain with your partner on missions that regard the bijuu, Uchiha." Pein finally said, seeming somewhat satisfied. Itachi sighed inwardly, knowing that, if both his shower and _this_ mess were any indication of how the rest of his day was, he should go back to bed and wake up tomorrow.

"Now that is clear, I am sending you two on a mission. To Konoha. I want you two to abduct one of the kyuubi's closer friends, so we can lure him out. It is almost time for extraction. I do not care so much _who_ it is, as long as the kyuubi is somehow emotionally attached to them. Perhaps that little medic that is always running about with him."

Itachi paled at the very thought. He could not believe he was having to do this mission, not but days since proving his innocence through Sakura. Now he was going to have to capture _her_, which was not going to look good if he ever wanted to be reinstated as a loyal konoha shinobi. This entire mission was undoable, he could not bring Sakura to the base, where she would be in so much danger.

"Leave this afternoon, and capture her at night. You are dismissed."

Kisame backed out of the room quickly, only discovering that Itachi had not followed when the wooden doors shut behind him. He waited for a moment to see if he would come, but the doors remained shut.

Pein looked up from his paperwork and saw that the Uchiha was still standing there expectantly. The leader sighed, then after briefly signing something, he gave Itachi his full, undivided attention. It was apparent that the displeased Uchiha had something to say.

"I am leaving this organization." Itachi finally informed him bluntly. Pein scrutinized the man, and after realizing he was completely serious, his eyes narrowed dangerously. He could not allow for one of his best shinobi to walk out of Akatsuki, not if he ever was to get the kyuubi.

"Under what pretenses?"

"Personal reasons." Itachi replied stonily. Pein glanced back at Konan, who, after giving him a worried look, left the room through a back door. She gave both Itachi and Pein one last look over, as if to say _do not kill each other_, and then shut the back door behind her. With the calm and collected woman out of the room, Pein's chakra flared up instantly. Itachi had thought, based on the leader's composed countenance earlier, that he might have gotten away with leaving with some ease. Now, he was forced to assume it would be the opposite.

"After joining, it is not possible to leave Akatsuki. Unless through death, of course." Pein hissed, his glower almost as intense as Itachi's. Itachi felt through his burning, yet nearly invisible anger when his Sharingan began to spin out of control, until they reached the Mangekyo state. He knew he should not use this technic, as it was slowly rendering him blind, but it would be impossible to battle the leader of Akatsuki without it.

"I will have to be an exception, then." Itachi said in a silky, though dangerous monotone. He made a promise to Sakura. He would leave Akatsuki to protect her and their child, and he would become a respectable shinobi of Konoha again. She needed someone reliable, and so he would become that person for her. Itachi never went back on his word.

"There are no exceptions, Uchiha." Pein replied cooly, scooting the wooden chair to his desk back, and then standing up. They glared at each other for a second, sizing each other up. Then, at the very same moment, both Akatsuki began forming hand seals at fearsome speeds.

Pein went for his trademark summoning, but Itachi never had the opportunity to see what it was, because not a moment later, he executed an enormous fire technic, swallowing the creature in orange and yellow flames. It disappeared as soon it came, going back to its own dimension in a puff of white smoke. Pein grimaced, but instantly charged for Itachi, a kunai already drawn.

Not an instant too late, Itachi drew his own kunai, blocking the attack, and then conducted his own assault. This was deflected as well, and they both jumped back uninjured. Instantaneously, the two shinobi attacked again, both of them blocking and this continued for a long time; perry and strike, perry and strike. It was endless, and there were no real results of it so far, besides Itachi's draining chakra.

Desperate for some sort of effect for his efforts, Itachi had to resort to using his Mangekyo, and pulled Pein into his tsukiyomi. Pein looked around the world he was standing in a separate world, controlled by the infamous Uchiha. The moon, from which this world was named, shone eerily through the thick crimson sky, and reflected off the black, smoky clouds. Personally, he was not impressed. Perhaps he should show the ignorant Uchiha what true hell was like, because what he saw was not it.

Itachi materialized before him, his expression remaining utterly impassive. At the same time, Itachi felt like he may finally have the upper hand here, in the world that he controlled. The two Akatsuki glared at each other, until a crucifix sprang from the ground, and Pein found himself a second later to be tied against it, and then he was surrounded by an ocean of Itachis, each of them with a katana in hand.

"Seventy-two hours should teach you how true pain feels. Then, you will allow my resignation, unless you wish for me to put you through my amaterasu." Itachi stated smugly, piercing Pein with the katana he held. His clones copied his action, and Pein grunted from the several blades he was impaled with.

This torture continued for the promised seventy-two hours, until Itachi pulled them back into the physical world. He was straining to keep his facade up, when he needed more than anything to bring fresh gulps of air into his lungs. The down side to using his tsukiyomi, it drained him of a majority of his chakra.

Itachi went to look at his opponent, pleased with Pein's blank stare. He watched as Pein stumbled, fully expecting the shinobi to fall to his knees, only for the Akatsuki leader to catch himself. Pein smirked at Itachi, whose eyes widened in shock; he should have been down after three days of non-stop excruciating pain, but there he stood, tall and unaffected.

"You have not taught me anything about pain, Uchiha. No one could possible feel true pain, until they go through hell. What you have created is a cheap, weak imitation."

The battle continued.

...

Sakura knew that, ever since she had gotten pregnant, that everything would be different. Things would be harder to deal with, and eventually, the truth would be discovered. Her teammates already knew about her secret relationship with Itachi, and had, so far, been kind enough to help her hide it.

Now though, as she sat in the waiting room of the hospital, she knew the gig was officially up. She had been so busy for the past few days with planning, that she had forgotten about her seasonal check-up with Tsunade. There was no way for her to conceal the pregnancy, and Tsunade was going to go on a rampage when she found out. Sakura knew it would be nearly impossible to hide who the father was a well; that was just a disaster waiting to happen.

Panic rolled over her in waves. How could she have forgotten about the mandatory health check? She had the impression that the sick feeling deep in her stomach had nothing to do with the growing fetus. It was adding so much strain on her cramped abdomen, making her breakfast slowly rise into her throat. She swallowed, willing herself to hold it back.

"Sakura? Tsunade-sama is ready to see you." A cheerful nurse poked her head in, smiling with enthusiasm. Sakura groaned, recognizing the nurse. She knew everyone in the hospital, having worked there for several years. Sakura nodded her head, and got to her feet, grunting from the soreness all over her body.

Sakura walked down the hall, letting the nurse lead, even though she knew the way by heart. The hospital was like a second home to her, entirely memorized after getting half of her training in its rooms. She had always felt so safe within its walls, but now, she felt sick, and exposed. It scared her.

Still smiling, the nurse opened the door to Tsunade's office, and Sakura walked in. Her teacher looked up from a chart, and noted how nervous Sakura looked. She wondered if something was bothering her student. She did not ask, though she planned to do so as soon as the check-up was through.

"You know the procedure, Sakura. Sit on the table, and I will do all the rest." Tsunade said, slipping on a pair of latex gloves. Sakura knew how the appointment would go. She would get her weight taken, then her hight, and then Tsunade would probe her body with inspecting chakra. The rest, was as they said, history. Tsunade would be able to sense the foreign chakra immediately.

Sakura looked down at the scale she was standing on, unsurprised that she had gained a few pounds since last time she had weighed herself. She was carrying extra weight now, after all. Tsunade wrote down the change on Sakura's chart, and then had her student stand tall as she measured her hight. There was no change in that way, which did not faze either of them. Sakura was past the growth spurt age now.

Sakura sat on the table, preparing herself for what was about to happen. Tsunade's hands glowed a soft green, and she pressed them to her upper stomach. She froze after a few seconds of inspecting, and her eyes flashed up to Sakura's face in shock. Sakura hid her face in shame, and could already feel the tears building up. Right, she had forgotten, all the hormones rushing inside of her body made her over emotional.

"Sakura, did you know about this before coming here?" Tsunade asked slowly. Without facing her teacher, Sakura nodded her head in affirmation. How could she be so out of touch with her body that she did not realize the changes going on inside? Tsunade groaned in aggravation, deciding then that she really needed a glass of sake.

"You know your options as a kunoichi. I advise that you abort the fetus while it is still small enough to do so. Otherwise, you will have to take less missions when the child is born. An only mother is hard enough job, but as a Kunoichi mother, it will be much more difficult. With less missions, there will be less income to care for you and your child, which I am sure you are aware of. I can do the operation in an hour, if you are ready."

Sakura crossed her arms over her stomach protectively. "I will not kill my child, Tsunade-shishou. I made a promise that I would give birth to this child, and I will keep this promise."

Tsunade looked at her student in bewilderment. She had to assume that the promise she spoke of was to the father, which meant that Sakura must have known about the child for a few days at least. Otherwise, she would not have been able to say what she just had without any thought to it.

"Sakura, who is the father?" Tsunade asked, rubbing the bridge of her nose. Sakura flinched at the question, and then paled. She had not expected Tsunade to ask this, but she supposed that her teacher, who had become almost a parental figure in her life, would want to know.

Her own parents had, for lack of better words, disowned her. They did not like the idea of having a kunoichi as a daughter, both of them being civilians. It had broken her heart when her father finally came to her, saying that he had the perfect 'gentleman' for her to marry. This, of course, had meant that he wanted her to end her kunoichi career. She had refused, and marched right out of her house, with no intention of returning. So far, she has managed to not see either her mother or father, after their falling out two years ago.

Seeing that she was reluctant to answer, Tsunade spoke again. "I can make a through search of the fetus' chakra and find out that way, or you can tell me who got you pregnant." Sakura did not like either of her options, but she knew how terrible Tsunade's mood would be after having to go through a procedure, and then finding out who the father was.

"Uchiha Itachi." Sakura finally said, her voice strong and unashamed. At first, Tsunade blinked at her student in disbelief, but when discovering that she was utterly serious, her face turned several different shades of red in her fury.

She opened her mouth to begin a yelling rant, but Sakura would not let her. Before Tsunade could get a word out, Sakura disappeared from the hospital, and reappeared on her doorstep. She numbly fumbled with the keys, and then entered her small abode. She desperately wanted to cry, but shock overtook her when she glanced at her red couch.

There sat Itachi, in his black and red Akatsuki cloak, bleeding profusely.

**AN: MWHAHAHA!!! A little cliffy for you. Seriously, I only get five reviews on average per chapter! Is it so hard to leave me a little feedback? TT^TT**


	7. Chapter 7

Sakura stifled a shriek at seeing the bloody and mangled body of her lover as he sat on her already red couch. The last thing she was worried about at the moment, however, was stains. She jumped across the room, and immediately started by checking his pulse. His heart rate was unhealthily low, but she knew he would live. Itachi cracked his exhausted eyes open at feeling Sakura's cool touch.

How he had escaped, he still did not know, but Pein was not dead. The battle had been fierce, and he had nearly lost his life with it. It was amazing that he had gotten out of the base fast enough to preform a teleportation jutsu. Pein was impossibly strong, and it was clear that Itachi could not defeat him on his own, not when Pein revealed himself to be several different identities.

Though he had managed to escape Akatsuki, he had still sustained vital injuries, ones that he could never dream of letting heal on their own. Without a second thought, he went to the best medic he knew of, Sakura. He had not wanted to go to her yet, with Akatsuki still possibly on his tail, but if he did not receive medical attention, he was intelligent enough to figure out his chances of survival. If he was lucky, the Akatsuki would end their pursuit with the day, believing him to die from his injuries. They did not know of his connections to a very talented medic, after all.

Sakura gave a shaky sigh, not liking the sight of all Itachi's blood. Carefully, as to not tear his injuries further, she unbuttoned his cloak, and then helped him take it off. It seemed that he did not like not being able to control his muscles enough to take off his clothes, but he let her do as necessary anyway. Slowly, Sakura dragged his shirt up over his head to show the extent of damage done to his body. Conjuring a sizable amount of healing chakra to her hand. She gently lay it to his chest to further implore how fatal his injuries were.

Besides the visible, wide gashes he had on his stomach and back, she sensed multiple broken ribs, which had caused a punctured lung. She sighed, his situation was grave indeed, but it was something she could heal, which she was thankful for. After making a final inspection with her chakra, and finding only minor cuts and bruises, she lifted her hand from his chest.

Itachi looked at her through lidded eyes, and she could guess the question he had for her before he could form words to ask it. "I can heal it, Itachi." She whispered, giving him a quick kiss. He tasted like blood, sweat and dirt, and she did not like that. Not being strong enough to move him to her bedroom for the operation, Sakura moved Itachi on the couch so he was laying on his back.

Itachi watched her calm, trained expression as she kneeled down next to him, and then pressed two glowing hands on his chest. He grunted in pain at the sensation of her healing chakra invading him, but said nothing. Sakura began with the still-bleeding lesions, closing them up so he could not lose any more precious blood.

Satisfied with the light pink scarred tissue on his stomach and sides, Sakura moved her hands to his chest. These wounds were the most serious, she knew, and she hoped that she had enough chakra to fix them all in one session. She had to be more cautious when it came to using her chakra, if she used too much, it could be dangerous for the fetus slowly growing inside of her.

Pressing her delicate hands into his chest firmly, Sakura listened to Itachi groan in pain. In the time it had taken to heal the injuries to his sides and abdomen, he had begun to cough up blood, which had worried her. With mechanical speed, she started setting the broken ribs, holding the fractured pieces together by surrounding them with a chakra barrier. This only caused the pieces to maintain their original state, however, and did not actually mend them.

Instantly, Sakura went to his most vital wound, the punctured lung. With all the fractured bone pieces in place, she did not have to worry about building the cellular structures up around obstacles, and could move straight to the gaps of flesh in his lung. Rebuilding the tissue of Itachi's lung was tedious work, and she knew that it was unbearably painful, but Itachi did not let himself slip into unconsciousness. He stayed awake for the entire session, until he was stable, and his lungs were reconstructed completely.

When Sakura had gone to finally mend his ribs, it was too painful to sleep though. He looked into her face though, gaining some reassurance there. He knew he was going to live, at least through the night. There was no telling what could happen when Akatsuki discovered he was still alive.

When she had found Itachi on her red couch, it had been some time shortly after noon. When Sakura finished repairing his bones, she looked at the clock to see the time was four. She healed his small cuts easily by just running a chakra-covered finger along them. Once she had gotten all of his cuts on his torso, Sakura inched his standard shinobi pants down to get the rest.

Fully healthy again, with not so much as a bruise on him, Itachi slipped into slumber, and Sakura followed soon after, but not before curling up with him on the couch, despite the lack of room. Instinctively, Itachi wrapped a strong arm around her, and they both got the rest they needed.

Sakura opened her eyes, and stared straight ahead to the television set in front of her. She glared at it for a second, wondering why she had fallen asleep on the couch, when the two arms she had not noticed around her gave a slight squeeze. Memories of finding Itachi almost dead on her red couch flew through her head, and she twisted in his hold. They looked at each other for a moment, both of them having something rather important to say, but neither of them knowing how to word it delicately.

Itachi sighed, and then spoke. "I left Akatsuki. The leader was not particularly pleased." Sakura listened to his rough voice, and figured he must have been dehydrated after sleeping and the intense healing session. She slipped out of his relaxed hold and went to the kitchen to get him some water. When she returned, he was sitting upright, and she was unsurprised by this. Laying down would have felt weak for someone like him.

He gulped down the entire glass as she sat next to him. "Was that why you got into a fight? Did you win and get away?"

Itachi shook his head. "I lost in epic proportions. Pein had told Kisame and I to continue on our joint mission in capturing the kyuubi, and said to take hostage. I had already been planning on breaching the matter of my resignation, but when he mentioned you as someone to barter with, I knew I could not wait any longer." He said, a slightly shaky hand going through his hair. Sakura rested her head on his broad shoulder, and then took his hand, lacing it with hers.

He took this as a sign to continue. "When I told him of my intentions, he proclaimed that once joining Akatsuki, there was no leaving, but he is unaware of my true reasons for entering that organization. A battle commenced, right in the center of his office, and it was not until halfway through that I realized it was impossible to win. Pein, the leader, has several different identities of his own, all which I must assume are connected, and under the control of some other being behind the curtain."

"It was a fluke that I escaped, and nothing more. He had been distracted by something, and seeing how the battle was going, I took the opportunity to run. Half of Akatsuki chased after me, but when I preformed the teleportation jutsu, it was impossible to follow me further. It felt cowardly to run as I did, but I could not allow him to defeat me in all entirety."

Sakura understood, and was glad he was comfortable enough with her to open up as he just had. Most of the time, he had difficulty speaking even whole sentences, but now she had him telling more than ever. It made her happy that she was the one he could talk to.

Then she sighed, knowing it was her turn to speak, and that what she had to say was not going to make him happy. It had to be said though; she could not hide something so important from him. "Tsunade found out about my pregnancy, and ultimately, you." Sakura started. Itachi's eyes widened fractionally, but he said nothing to interrupt her.

"I had forgotten about my seasonal health check, and that turned out to be today. I was so nervous in that sitting room, I was sure I would throw up, because I knew she would notice it as soon as the inspection began. When she did discover the fetus, she... she had suggested I have an abortion. I refused, of course, and then she had asked who the father was. I could not lie, it would only backfire in the future. I do not know what she did when she found out, I ran away as soon as I had said your name, but I know she was not pleased. If I know Tsunade, then she probably sent ANBU."

Sakura shifted slightly in his warm hold, cinching closer into his chest. "Do you feel all right?" He asked, breathing in her addictive strawberry scent.

"I feel fine, but I am sort of curious how the ANBU have not found me. My apartment should have been the first place to look, but they have not come yet." She muttered back, placing a careful hand on his bare chest. She looked up at his face for permission, which he granted, and she seeped her healing chakra into his chest. After seeing he was, thankfully, uninjured, she lifted her hand away.

"I place a genjutsu on your apartment when I came, In case Akatsuki followed. It is strong enough to hold up even ANBU for a few hours. I simply adjusted it so you could slip through it easily."

"It has been a _few_ hours, Itachi. That means-

As if on cue, there was a deafening thud against her front door, and a second later, it threw open. Three masked operatives entered the establishment, their glares burning behind blank, animal-faced guises. Just as Itachi had said, it would take a while for them to get through, but ANBU always found a way. If anyone in that room understood this, it was Itachi himself, with what he had done for Konoha as an ANBU operative.

"Haruno Sakura, you are to be brought to the hokage for questioning, and the Uchiha will come as well. Any resistance to this will lead to chakra restraints. If you have anything for your defense, get it now, or you will face judgement with nothing in your favor." The man hiding behind the porcelain hawk barked with authority. She stumbled to her feet, shocked at how dire the situation was. Itachi, having predicted such a circumstance to arise eventually, stood up next to her with grace that Sakura could not believe he possess in such a distressing affair.

"Did you keep the scroll I asked you to get?" Itachi smoothly whispered into her ear. She nodded, understanding that this was the only chance she would ever have to prove his innocence to Tsunade. If she did not get it, Itachi would be sentenced to death, and her to a life of imprisonment. As an inmate, their child would be aborted, and everything that mattered would be gone. Everything was riding on that scroll.

She disappeared momentarily to her bedroom, instantly going to her tidy desk to retrieve the mission orders Itachi had been given by Konoha's elders nearly ten years previous. During her absence, the ANBU all looked at him warily, knowing his high rank as a shinobi. Itachi smirked to himself, wondering if he had worked with any of the three that stood before him.

Sakura returned with a hopeful smile, then handed Itachi his old mission order. He glanced at her, overflowing with pride. He was originally uncertain if she would know where the key went to, but she clearly had, because she had made it to his locker without any apparent trouble. He was going to have to ask for his key back later.

The scroll felt heavy in his hand, but he kept it despite that. That simple piece of paper with its candid demands, it kept secret his dark past, and was the solution to his future. He followed Sakura and the ANBU out of the apartment, grabbing his shirt on his way. Itachi slipped it over his head while walking though the door, and slowed his stride to Sakura's pace.

She was scared of what could happen, with Tsunade's infamously bad attitude, and Itachi could see this much. As a silent comforter, Itachi fished for her hand, and having caught it, he smoothed little circles into the sensitive skin with a thumb. She looked up at him, and though the smile she gave him was bright, he could see it was being pulled down with concern.

"Relax yourself, Sakura. Being stressed cannot be beneficial for the baby." Itachi muttered so that only she could hear. She blushed at how he had said _baby_ in such a caring, soft tone.

"I know that, Itachi. I am the medic, remember?" She grumbled back. The ANBU leading turned back at them, ordering silence from the duo.

It was strange for Itachi to be walking through Konoha without any sort of disguise or illusion hiding his identity, and he felt the weight of stares as he continued on, Sakura's hand in securely his. Sakura felt the same burden on her, though with how she walked along Itachi, she could tell that everyone who saw her felt betrayal. She would never forget Ino's facial expression at seeing them together.

It was Tsunade's expression that topped the cake though, when she saw the two lovers hand in hand. Sakura stared straight into her teacher's face, prepared for anything that she may say. The hokage's jaw hardened in anger, and her eyes thinned at the unlikely couple.

"Haruno Sakura, you are here for the fraternization with Akatsuki's Uchiha Itachi, an S-class criminal and missing-nin of Konohagakure. Do you accept the charges made against you?" Tsunade said, an edge cutting into her tone harshly. Sakura saw that this was no longer her lovable, rarely sober instructor and mother figure, but instead the leader of Konoha, and protecter of her village that was speaking.

"I will not deny the nature of our relationship, Hokage-sama." Sakura murmured back, her voice subdued. Itachi frowned, not liking the saddened look on Sakura's face. Without a moment to waste, he tossed Tsunade the scroll he had been given as a boy of thirteen. She glowered at his impatience.

"I am not ready to deal with you, Uchiha brat. Do not interrupt me." She spat at him, then looking at what she had easily caught. It was sealed by the Third, and her first mentor. "What the hell is this?" She asked.

"Redemption." Itachi replied, his voice velvet. Tsunade glared at him for his self-righteousness, but opened it nonetheless. This was the moment of truth, Sakura knew, watching as her leader and trainer read the once-hidden document. Tsunade read it through several times, and when she finally put the scroll down, her face was red with fury.

"Shizune! Get me Danzo and those idiotic geezers immediately!" She shouted, drawing confusion to everyone in the room besides Sakura and Itachi. Sakura laughed with relief, and jumped into Itachi's arms joyously. He chuckled at her excitement, and held her fast. He was sorely tempted to spin her about the room, his newly found freedom invigorating, but he thought better of it.

Danzo entered the room with a decided pride, and his focus instantly went to the seemingly rogue Uchiha, who, when sensing his presence, had turned to openly glare at him. Danzo went to look at Tsunade, who had joined Itachi in glaring at the menace.

"You spoke of it." He growled at Itachi, his entire body shaking with wrath. Itachi said nothing in response, but turned to the Hokage to see what Danzo's charges would be.

"Danzo! You are a sick, twisted bastard; no better than the likes of Orochimaru. You will rot in a jain cell for this despicable crime, with your conspirators right next to you." She barked at him, demanding his attention. He frowned. Everything that had happened, he had ordered for the village's safety.

"You do not have the power to lock me up, Tsunade-hime, not with root as my defense." He shot back confidently. She laughed coldly at his proclamation.

"Hokage's word is law." Tsunade growled, turning to the ANBU who stood on either side of Danzo, and gave them a sharp nod. There was no need for words; Tsunade was not known for her lenience when it came to those who were guilty. If someone did something she deemed unacceptable, then they would pay for it. The fact that she had sent ANBU after Sakura, when a few chunin would have been enough to prove this point.

"I will not allow this, Tsunade-hime! Root will put an end to your reign, and this village will be brought back to its former glory! I _will _be hokage, if it is the last thing I do!" He shouted at them in fury. The ANBU hawk, who was put out with the irate mongrel's antics, gave his hokage a pleading look, which she replied with a smirk. The irritated ANBU jabbed two fingers into a pressure point of his neck, and Danzo went limp. Rather pleased, the two operatives dragged the man off.

Hokage Tsunade turned to the unlikely pair, her eyes softening measurably. On the inside, where she was only a woman, and not a prestigious medic or a fearsome leader, Tsunade was one to fall for a good romance story. The fact that her own apprentice had unraveled the mystery behind the Uchiha Massacre gave her a certain sense of pride, though she still did not approve of Sakura being a mother while still so young.

Having Uchiha Itachi back on their side of things would have several advantages, one of them being that he had so much inside information on the Akatsuki, after spending almost a decade with them. Another benefit, though only in the point of view as a hokage, was that the Uchiha clan could finally be rebuilt, and strength would return to the village. As the mother figure in Sakura's life, however, she was still skeptical of the pregnancy. She hoped that the silent man had every intention of caring for both his child and the woman who bared it, or he would have to face her.

"Uchiha, I hope you do not object to rejoining Konoha as a loyal shinobi. We are in need of a good captain around here." She said, watching curiously as the seemingly emotionless man held his lover possessively. It was apparent that all assumptions they had made of him were wrong, if she based his character on what she was seeing. He looked as caring as any other honest man.

"I would like nothing more in the world, Hokage-sama. As long as I am welcome here, I will stay." Itachi bowed respectfully, pleased with being able to pronounce where his allegiances truly lay. He had always hated being looked at as if he were the scum of the earth, merely because the pretenses of his duty. In his heart, he had always been a konoha shinobi, even when the world did not see it as such. Sakura, the woman standing next to him, _the woman that was carrying his child_, had been the first to really see him for who he was, and not for what he had done.

"Good. Of course, if you do not wish to return to the field immediately, I have every intention in replacing Homura and Koharu today, after seeing their involvement. Those corrupt bastards." Tsunade muttered her last comment under her breath. Itachi, with his superior hearing, heard her anyway. He smirked, and stood up straight again.

"I am afraid that is not something I could ever do. My opinion of the council is rather biased, and so I would prefer to remain uninvolved with that circle as much as possible." He replied in earnest. If he ever did become advisor to the hokage, he doubted that he would be able to last long, with the council's generally immoral attitude. He did not believe that an Uchiha would ever be allowed into the council anyway, with the silent feud between his clan and the Senju. He himself did not care about a person's heritage so much, but the Senju would not be so accepting.

"Very well. After you go through the interrogation process with Ibiki, I shall reinstate you as your previous rank; ANBU captain. Do you accept this offer?" Tsunade grumbled. Replacing the council was not something she wanted to do, the members would always be the same greedy, nefarious sort of characters, and she hated putting up with them at all. The only thing they were useful for was starting an argument, considering her foul temper. Perhaps she would not replace the old coots when she locked them up for treason.

"I will serve my village and my hokage to the best of my ability." Itachi affirmed. Tsunade figured this was his cryptic way of accepting the position. She sighed, knowing that the entire situation was going to turn into nothing but a terrifying pile of paperwork, but she always had Shikamaru to do it. There was Sakura now as well, seeing she was not going on any missions in the immediate future.

The door opened, revealing Koharu and Homura, both of them donning ordinate robes that swished around their frail, old frames. "You summoned us, Tsunade-hime?" The elderly woman asked first, her voice trembling from too many years of use. Tsunade turned from Itachi, her somewhat soft, understanding expression lost. Her eyes thinned into two dangerous slits, showing she was beyond furious with the advisors.

Homura looked around the room when noticing they were not alone, and tensed at seeing who exactly was standing there. Uchiha Itachi was not the child of thirteen he had been last time Homura had seen him, but instead a powerful young man. He frowned at seeing the Uchiha in the presence of Tsunade, until it struck him why they were there.

"Tsunade-hime, whatever decisions made by Konohagakure's council has always been in the village's best interest. The safety of our community is of the upmost importance, and so drastic measures needed to be taken. If that betraying clan had not been killed off, then Konoha would have been dragged into a civil uprising, and there could have easily been a fourth ninja war. Thousands of innocent people would have been killed for that corrupt clan's agenda, and so we chose a few hundred lives as the lesser of two evils. You cannot blame us for our decision." Homura said smoothly, only glancing at Itachi for a moment. Everyone in the room knew that his words were empty, and only said as an attempt to appease Tsunade, resulting in the man's freedom.

Itachi tensed at hearing what the elder had to say, his jaw clenching angrily. Sakura felt his hand tighten around hers slightly, giving him away for his fury. She looked up at him in concern, but knew there was nothing she could say to relax him. They spoke of his clan as if it were lowly filth, and though the Uchiha clan's desperation for power was undeniable, he knew it had only been caused by their being sheltered, and shut off from the rest of konoha. That had only been decided by an anxious council of ignorant elders, most of them prejudice because of their family history as Senju.

"She may not be able to, but I can blame you for the underhanded destruction of my clan." Itachi whispered more to himself than anyone else. Sakura leaned into him, trying to give some sort of comfort. For him to have said anything at all was proof enough of his discomfort. He let out a long, slightly shaky sigh, and closed his eyes. It was unlike him to interrupt a conversation when it was not in his place, but it had been impossible to hold it back. Years of pent-up anger had reappeared, when he had forgotten about this feeling of distraught so long ago.

"You have no right to patronize me, Uchiha. You were the one who ratted out your own clan, and then killed them off when you were ordered to."

Sakura spoke before anyone else could. "Itachi only did his duty as a shinobi, you damn prune." The room looked at the girl in amazement, knowing Sakura was not one to say anything at all during this sort of meeting. Usually, she remained silent and simply observed. Itachi smirked down at his lover in appreciation.

"I deem Itachi innocent. He followed his orders, and sacrificed himself for this village. For that, he is more than welcome in this village." Tsunade said, coming out of her pensive state. Itachi did not like how he sounded like some sick, skewed hero, but he could accept this.

The room remained quiet, the weight of her words echoing on the walls. Sakura smiled, pleased with the new opinion her teacher had for Itachi. It was much more accepting than what it had been before.

Koharu broke the silence. "We will not fight you this time, Tsunade-hime. We are to weak to continue battling with you, and we would not last long in imprisonment. We shall leave this village, and we will watch from afar when it crumbles to the ground. With the undermining rule you have here, it will not take long for that to happen. When it does, you will wish we were here to fix your mistakes."

The proud woman turned and left, blatantly forgetting to bow in respect. Homura sighed, but knew his fellow advisor was right. Konoha was going to fall, and he did not want to be there when it did. In his old age, he wanted to die peacefully. That did not look possible in konoha anymore. He left as well.

"Hokage-sama, if it is at all feasible, I wish to convey this to Sasuke myself." Itachi murmured thoughtfully.

"He is under your jurisdiction now, as you are the new Uchiha head. I will not intervene with your clan problems." She muttered. Tsunade made a quick check that Shizune was not near, and sensing that she was not, she snuck her hidden bottle of sake out, feeling too on edge.

Itachi contemplated over what she had said. Years ago, as the Uchiha heir, he had never wanted to become head of the clan, always hating the politics and backstabbing that went with it. Now, however, the clan was drastically smaller, and if he so wished, he could rebuild it in any way he wanted. Peace for his restless, broken clan could be created, and he believed it was something he might just be able to achieve it.

**AN: Wow, that was a fast update. I officially have no life. Please comment, it will make up for my anti-socialness, and my ability to get another chapter out so soon. Do not count on this to happen every time though. LOL.**


	8. Chapter 8

Sasuke felt strange, like there was something important that happened, but he could not remember what it was. He had woken up in a prison cell, deep down in the depths under Konoha, his chakra drained, and a blank spot in his memory. Flashes of a battle with Sakura flew through his head, but he could not recall the reason for them to fight for the life of him.

It irritated the hell out of him, not being able to recall what had happened. He had the feeling that he had been angry, furious, otherwise he would have never fought his former kunoichi teammate. What could she have done to infuriate him so much, that he made an attempt on her life? He cared about her too much to ever want to harm her, even though he had been trying to deny the feelings he held for her over the past several years.

Sakura was the woman he had always planned to continue the Uchiha clan with, she was the one he had secretly loved throughout his shinobi career. He had hurt her terribly, and he knew that, but she would have been in more pain if he had let her join him, as she desperately wanted to on the night he left her, cold and defenseless on that park bench. It had killed him to do that to her, but she would have died, been killed by either the sound four or Orochimaru, if he had not forced her to stay. She did not belong out there in the dangers of sound, and he had done his best to protect her from that.

She was what he had lived for, the only person he would ever die for, because she was just as willing to do the same for him. How he longed for Sakura when locked up in sound's bowels, but he needed to complete his self-assigned mission on his own. Sasuke had to kill Itachi on his own; Sakura could not be involved with that.

Itachi would have used her against him, because she was his weakness. He had spent the past hiding this vulnerability from everyone, even himself. His older brother would have taken advantage of this, should he learn of it. Thus, no one knew of his fatal attraction, not even the focus of his love. As long as she kept her promise, that she would do anything for him, that she would love him forever, than he could build the clan with her. That was what mattered, that and killing Itachi.

He smiled briefly to himself, remembering how beautiful Sakura had been in that clearing, even if they were in the middle of a battle. When he left her, she had been a girl, but now she was a woman. He had been surprised, she was a very skilled kunoichi, with exceptional acting skills. She had tricked him into thinking she was out of chakra, and then knocked him out when he had not expected it.

Had she been angry with him as well? He could not picture sweet, loving Sakura ever wanting to get him locked up. Surely she had known what the results of her victory would have been. He needed to find a way out, so he could complete his revenge against Itachi. Unfortunately, they regularly drained his chakra, and so he was not left with enough to escape.

His ANBU guards had not visited him recently to drain him, though his chakra was still drastically low, he had just enough to switch into his sharingan. With very little effort, his eyes bled into a crimson, and his tomoe spun about as he scoped the room. They still kept him chained to the wall, not that he could get out without them. From what he could tell, there was chakra sensors set up all over the chamber, and the handcuffs around his wrists were reinforced with chakra as well. There was no precaution that they ANBU prison did not take.

It had been weeks since first being locked up, and he was tired of waiting for his judgement to be made. Naruto and Sakura would step up for him, and they were both close to the hokage. Whatever his consequences were, they would not be too bad. His patience was running thin, however, and it was high time he got out of the grimy cell.

Still mulling over his missing memory, and his need to get out of the hell hole he was locked up in, Sasuke remained completely oblivious of the two very familiar people that stood just outside of his cell.

Itachi glanced down at Sakura, who was standing to the side of him, and saw how nervous she really was to be there. They had decided to go visit Sasuke, to tell him the truth, and about the Uchiha child Sakura was expecting. Itachi had suggested that she stay behind for this, knowing it would not be a pleasant meeting, but she stubbornly said she was going with him. Now, it looked as if she was having second thoughts about facing her past, about looking Sasuke in the eyes, and telling him about what she had done behind his back. That she had fallen for his older brother when he was not looking.

"You do not have to do this now, Sakura. I understand if you are not ready to tell him about us." Itachi murmured as they stood outside the sealed cell. Sasuke looked up at the locked, metal door, recognizing the voice outside of it, though unable to match it to a face, nor hear exactly what was being said. He was not expecting anyone to visit him, so he wondered who it could possibly be.

"No, Itachi. We need to do this now. I am not backing down." Sakura replied, her voice strong and defiant. He smirked for a second, then gave her a quick kiss to the cheek. With that said, Itachi turned from his lover to the sealed door. He sighed, knowing to expect the very worst from his younger brother, and with great trepidation, he unlocked it with a key.

Sakura was the first to step into the room, and Sasuke's eyes flashed up to her immediately. His face recoiled in disgust, his sharingan ablaze, and with absolute horror, he could see what was growing deep within her. She bit her lips at the glare he was now sending her, and Sakura glanced back to Itachi.

"Maybe I should speak with him first." Sakura whispered to him, before he came into view. Itachi shook his head.

"No. You were the one who said we needed to do this now." He replied calmly as he passed through the door. Itachi did not look at his brother at first, instead wrapping two muscular arms about his lover's body in a protective manner. His long, nimble fingers stretched out across her abdomen, and as if to show Sasuke where they truly stood, Sakura placed her hands over his. Together, they looked straight at Sasuke, neither of them fearing his reaction.

"Is this a joke?" Sasuke whispered, his entire body still in shock. Sakura and Itachi did not answer, waiting for him to respond to their relationship. It only took a moment for the new information to sink in.

"Are you fucking kidding me?" He yelled, trying to jump out at his brother, but was unable to, with the chains keeping him against the stone wall. Itachi sighed, waiting for Sasuke to let it all out, before explaining anything. He would be interrupted so many times, that there would be no point in speaking at all.

"What the fucking hell is this? You promised me, Sakura! You were supposed to wait for me, not get screwed by my goddamned brother! How could you do this? How could you let that bastard take what should have been mine?" Sasuke shouted at her. Her face reddened; Sakura was guilty of what he accused her of, but she had been waiting for too long, waiting for someone who would never love her. She was not a tool, a baby machine for his plans. She was having Itachi's child because she wanted to, not for some other dark motive.

"That was a subjective promise I made to you Sasuke. When you walked through those gates and out of konoha for Orochimaru, it became void." She replied softly. Sasuke's widened in fury, his sharingan spinning dangerously. He obviously had believed otherwise, for quite some time. He shook his head in denial.

"That is a lie. You loved me, Sakura! You cannot tell me you forgot me about that!" He hollered. Itachi saw the look Sasuke gave her, recognizing the harmful intent in his sharingan. He frowned.

"Sasuke. Cease this foolishness. We did not come here to listen to your deluded assumptions." Itachi demanded with a decided confidence. Sasuke turned his sharingan to his older brother, his anger overflowing. Sakura could not stand the hatred swirling around the small cell, originating from Sasuke.

"Right, I forgot! You came to show off your little toy, right Itachi? I am sure your buddies at Akatsuki must think she is the cutest little pet you have found yet, right? She must be the most beautiful whore you fucked! I bet they all had some fun with her!" Sasuke howled. Sakura blushed at his implications, her hands tightening around Itachi's in discomfort.

Itachi shut his eyes, trying to cool his frayed nerves. He did not particularly like how he had just regarded Sakura and himself. "No, that is not my reasoning in coming here. None of the Akatsuki has laid a finger on Sakura, or even know of her existence." He paused for a second, gaging Sasuke's overall reaction to this. He had not planned on saying this, but he continued to tell him, "For your information, Sakura was the first woman I ever slept with. It was initially supposed to be a one-time occurrence, but, as you can so clearly see with your sharingan, that had to be changed."

"Are you saying you planned on fucking her, then leaving her alone the next morning, as if nothing happened?" Sasuke yelled.

Itachi shook his head. "No, but before we shared a bed, I was perfectly resigned to my death. However, now that Sakura is with my child, I cannot allow you take your revenge, like I had originally planned."

"What the hell are you talking about? This is all a bunch of bullshit!" He shouted back, his voice starting to crack from strain. Itachi shook his head, seeing his younger brother would not see reason. He was going to have to resort less conventional ways so Sasuke would listen to him.

"Long before I committed the murders of our family, I had been planning out your future, and my death."

"Do not even fucking think about talking to me about them, you bastard! I do not want to hear you damn excuses! You killed them all; women, children, your own mother and father!"

"I apologize that I have to show you the truth of what you think happened, but you leave me no choice, ototo." Itachi muttered, his eyes spinning into the sharingan's bloody crimson.

Sasuke started to yell, "How dare you call me tha-

His voice cut off abruptly, as he was pulled into the world of Itachi's dreaded tsukiyomi. Sakura sighed, wishing that it had to go so raggedly.

_Sasuke blinked, looking around the familiar black and white universe, making a jump for him when Itachi appeared before him. A length of chains materialized, then coiled itself around the desperate Uchiha. Itachi gave him a hard look._

"_Do not make this any more difficult than it needs to be, ototo." Itachi said, his eyes spinning menacingly with the deathly markings of the mangekyo. Sasuke shuddered, saying nothing as the world spun around him, until he was being swallowed by the eerily bright moon._

_The familiar settings disappeared, until Sasuke found himself standing in a room shrouded in semidarkness, a thirteen year old Itachi kneeling before a half-circle of sitting elders. Amongst them was his father, and other Uchiha he vaguely recognized. _

"_Uchiha Itachi! We need more information on the hokage, not this nonsense of how it is impossible to learn more! We made you become ANBU for a reason, now prove you are capable of the assignment we gave you!" One said, his voice on edge. The young Itachi stayed in his kneeling position, raising his head slowly to look onto the elders._

"_I am working into the hokage's inner circle, but it will take time to-_

"_Itachi. You know how important your job is for the clan. If you do not give us the information we need, then we can never take control of this village." Sasuke heard their father say in a stony, authoritative tone. He made a double take. Had his father just said they were going to take control of konoha?_

"_I know, chichi-ue." Itachi replied in the same monotone as always, being careful to not show his disgust for the Uchiha's scheme. Sasuke, however, saw it clearly on his older brother's smooth facial expression._

"_We expect to have something more next meeting, Itachi." Another elder said cooly. Itachi nodded silently, and when he was given a curt nod, he disappeared in a cloud of ash. _

_The meeting room disappeared, and morphed into another, similarly darkened room. This time, Itachi was bowing before a solitary ANBU operative, whom was wearing a mask and black cape._

"_The Uchiha is becoming desperate for more intelligence. They will want something out of me in the next meeting, Taichou." Itachi said softly, staying at his knees. The operative nodded his head._

"_Uchiha Itachi Taichou. Danzo's mission is to be put into action by the end of the month. Have you recieved your directions?" The ANBU asked, his voice void of all emotions. Itachi's face dropped at what he was told, but he kept eye contact with the operative._

"_It will be done." He whispered._

"_Very well, you are excused, unless you do not agree to your mission orders. If not, we can always find someone else to do it." The unrecognizable man said coldly. Itachi shook his head._

"_No, I will do it myself. It is my responsibility to do so."_

_Sasuke watched this situation unfold, trying to understand what exactly Itachi had to do. He was so enraptured, he forgot to be angry with his older brother. Then, it suddenly clicked in his head. The Uchiha clan had been planing a coup, and Itachi had warned the hokage. He was then chosen to eliminate their clan, by that sick, twisted Danzo, whoever he was._

_His disbelief was overwhelming, but other things became to make sense. Before he was prepared for it, the room changed again, until he was standing in what he knew was the hokage's office. Itachi was keeled over an all fours before the sandaime, hiding his tear stained face in shame. Sasuke then realized, this was the night of the massacre, and that his older brother had been crying._

"_I am so sorry that this had to happen, Itachi. I had always hoped that we could have ended this peacefully." The third said ruefully, his eyes falling downward. "Is there anything I can do?"_

_Itachi thought for a second before answering. "Protect Sasuke for me from the elders. I wanted to save him from this mess, he is innocent, ignorant of the mess he was surrounded by. He does not deserve the life he was given, and I could not preserve him completely. My only hope is that he will take the chance he was given, and rebuild the Uchiha clan as a pure leader."_

"_Very well. I will protect Uchiha Sasuke for as long as I live. I wish you luck in your new mission. Contact Jiraya when you manage to enter Akatsuki."_

"_Thank you, hokage-sama." Itachi replied solemnly. He stood, and again, turned to ash. Sasuke stared at where his older brother had been crouched over in misery, his entire body still with disbelief. He felt himself evaporate, and he was standing face to face with Itachi, back in the place where they began._

"_I do not understand." Sasuke said weakly. Why had his brother betrayed his own clan? Why could he not let the Uchiha take control of the village?_

_Itachi saw the questions Sasuke wanted to ask in his eyes, and answered them for him. "If the Uchiha clan had gotten control of konoha, then a fourth ninja war would have been instigated. You never saw the horrors of war, ototo, but I have. At four years old, I had to resort to my capabilities to survive. I was a toddler when I made my first kill, and I did not want to see that happen again. Thousands of innocent, uninvolved people would have been dragged into a civil war, and too many people would die for what? Self-satisfaction and pride? I could not allow it to happen. When I was given the mission to massacre our clan, I could not disobey. I hated myself for doing it, hated myself for all the blameless children I killed, but it was orders."_

_Sasuke listened, no longer angry with his brother, except for accepting his orders, though he knew that if he was put in the same position, he would not be able to do anything but what he was told. "This Danzo; he is the one who ordered you to do this, right, aniki?" He asked in distain. Itachi nodded his head._

"_Then we must kill him! He is the bastard who caused this to happen!" Sasuke yelled. Itachi disagreed, and let his brother know by shaking his head._

"_No, he is not the only one to blame. While he is not innocent, he was protecting konoha in his own, militaristic way. The Uchiha clan, and their greed for power is the true catalyst. There is no good or bad side, no black and white, but rather a mess of undistinguished grays." Itachi said, a pitying look in his eye. Sasuke did not want his sympathy, but rather his assistance. Someone needed to pay for making him suffer years of being alone, and it would be so much more satisfying if Itachi helped him._

"_Aniki. someone has to pay for what I went through, for what _you_ went through."_

"_Are you not tired of hating everything, Sasuke?" Itachi asked quietly. Silence passed through the space between them. Neither of them broke the eye contact, until Sasuke finally sighed in defeat. As always, Itachi was right. It was exhausting to hate everything, to be always hunting for something more to destroy. It needed to end._

_It should have ended sooner, with him returning to konoha victorious, and a smiling Sakura waiting for him with open arms. That was not happening anymore though. She was his brother, and as much as he wanted her, as much as he believed he deserved her, Itachi needed her love, her care, her healing, much more than he ever could._

"_Show me how you and Sakura met." Sasuke finally whispered. Itachi's eyebrows lifted in surprise, and a frown set in. He had not expected something so personal, and he never thought his younger brother would want to see something so intimate. However, it was Sasuke's choice if he wanted to see how it began._

"_You will not like it. You will probably think lowly of us both, if you knew." Itachi said, hoping to dissuade his younger brother. Sasuke was stubborn though, and stood his ground. He needed to know how he had lost, if he was going to move in._

"_If you edit something out, then I will know." Sasuke grumbled. Itachi sighed, but did as his brother requested. Their surrounding spiraled around them, and when everything was still again, Sasuke found himself standing in the middle of a bar._

_He watched as Sakura, Ino, and Hinata, all wearing scantily short dresses approached three women, them also wearing clothes that was barely enough to cover the necessities. Sasuke realized that the three women Sakura was challenging were Itachi, and two other Akatsuki under henge. Both Sakura and the woman Sasuke had to assume was his older brother settled at a table on either side of a man. They both shamelessly started to flirt with him, and he figured that it must have been a seducing mission that they had been both hired for._

_Their joint target eventually dragged them both to a back room, and Sasuke looked on in horror as Sakura made out with him. Then, he watched as the two 'women' kissed, and when Sakura yelled at Itachi. She must have figured out 'she' was actually a 'he.' Sasuke already knew what was going to happen when his brother, still under a henge, pulled his clothes off._

_Almost immediately after seeing his older brother flaunt his nudity, back in his normal form, he saw Sakura move for him. He stood and watched, looking only briefly at their target as he fell to the ground, already dead. Sasuke did not stop looking as his brother made love to the woman he was supposed to be with, did not beg for it to end when Sakura started to scream Itachi's name in pleasure with each thrust. He endured the torture of watching them bask in each other's arms afterwards, whispering to one another, and giving each other soft kisses._

_Sasuke understood what had started them; after seeing how they had made love to one another. They had been drinking off each other, taking what they could of the other, trying to quench the loneliness they had both suffered through. They had needed to find satisfaction in some other person, and it was only by chance that they had found it in each other. Sasuke had to tell himself that, but he knew there was something about Itachi that was much more endearing._

_He felt his knees go numb, and stumbled forward weakly._

Sakura looked up at Itachi with a slight glare when they exited his tsukiyomi a second after entering, and Sasuke fell to his knees. His face looked utterly broken by whatever he had seen. She was about to scold him when Sasuke looked up at them both, still in an embrace, and his face was a sickly pale, almost a green pallor.

"What did you show him?" She asked suspiciously. Itachi shrugged, looking into the distance.

"I showed him what led up to the massacre, among other things." He replied vaguely. Sakura's eyes twitched and a scowl set into her fair features. He smirked, and gave her a small peck on the forehead. She hated it when he gave her mind puzzles to solve.

"Do I have to ask Sasuke what 'other things' means?" Sakura asked with a dangerous calm. Itachi did not have time to answer her though, as Sasuke did so for him.

"I asked to see how you met." He stated in frail tone. Sakura's face turned flush red, and she glared openly at her lover, unafraid of consequences for doing so. How they met was not something she wanted him showing people, least of all the man she used to love. It was wholly inappropriate, and on top of that, embarrassing.

"Itachi, you showed him _that_?" Sakura groaned exasperatedly. He gave her a knowing look, and then another kiss.

"Well, he did ask for it." Itachi muttered back. Sakura laughed nervously, looking back between her lover and Sasuke. She was certainly going to require mental help before anything became stable, with these two Uchiha around. Sakura sighed, knowing that therapy was a fair trade for what she now had. Sasuke was back, _not_ trying to kill his brother, and Itachi had left Akatsuki to stay and raise there child. With her chaotic life, she would be happy to stay out of a mentality ward.

**AN: WOW, that was a really fun chapter to write. Please review!!**


	9. Chapter 9

Back in Sakura's apartment, Itachi huffed softly to himself, slumping onto her red couch. She lay next to him, her head resting in his lap. She smiled softly, reaching a hand up to stroke his face, feeling a slight stubble under her finger tips. Sakura giggled quietly, giving him a look that clearly said she thought he should shave soon. He took that hand, and with much care, kissed the small palm.

"You look tired." She whispered, sighing and then shutting her own eyes. He chuckled, smoothing her unruly pink locks. Sakura loved these quiet, solitary moments they shared, mostly because of how rarely they came about. He shook his head though.

"You should be more tired than I. I am not the one with child." He replied, his voice hinting humor. Sakura peeked an eye open to look up at him, and saw he was smirking slightly down at her. She returned this with her own smile, then she shut her eyes again. He was right; most of the time, she felt physically drained. Sakura wondered if this was how pregnancy always felt like, or if it was because he was an Uchiha, and his child took more energy to develop. For some reason, that made sense.

"Hmm, but you are still recovering from that battle." She mumbled, yawning a second later. He snorted. Itachi was always one to recover quickly, and so he felt he was back to his full potential. Sakura, however, as the medic, believed he still needed proper recovery. Now, though, she was too busy falling asleep in his lap to scold him as much as what was necessary.

As soon as he saw she was no longer awake, Itachi slowly shifted, then carried her down the hall. He carefully set her down on her messy bed, covering her with the sheets strewn about. He sat on the corner of the bed near to where he head rest on a pillow, watching her as she breathed in and out. It was tempting to curl up with her and get some sleep himself, but he thought better of it.

Though they were vague, he still maintained memories of when his mother had been pregnant with Sasuke. While his mother was known for being calm and caring to an extreme, her mood went sour when she became pregnant. Mikoto had been constantly exhausted, and when she did not feel like throwing up, she was hungry. If these factors were common in every pregnant woman, then he imagined Sakura was going to be famished when she woke up.

Giving her quick peck on the cheek, he stood and closed the door, but not before taking one more glance at his sleeping lover. She was curled up like a kitten in her burrow of sheets, making his eyes soften. He sighed quietly, then left for the kitchen.

He was not sure what she was going to want when she woke up, nor what she even had stocked in her cupboard, but he was determined to have something prepared when she woke. Opening the refrigerator, he was pleased to find fresh fish wrapped in patty paper, and some pickled vegetables. He pulled both of these out, and then the miso hiding behind the pre-made pickles. A small, unreadable expression of victory crossed his face, and he mentally readied himself to make the best goddamned meal Sakura ever ate.

Sakura's eyes slowly opened, and she was somewhat surprised to find herself laying in bed, covered with sheets. She could hardly remember even falling asleep on the couch with Itachi, so she concluded that he must have put her to bed. Where exactly he was then, she did not know, because he was not laying next to her, his strong arms holding her small frame against him, like she would have expected from him.

She was not, however, concerned too much. He was a free man now, so the shinobi in the village would not attack him. She slowly sat up, and then slipped out of the sheets, taking cautious steps to the door. When she opened the door, her nose was immediately assaulted by scents of what she knew to be a hot meal. Her stomach growled at her, and Sakura realized that she was hungry. She glared down at the offending sounds, clutching her stomach with a hand, trying to repress any further noise.

Sakura followed her nose, and was led quickly to the kitchen. To say she was shocked by the scene she walked in on was an understatement. For some reason, she had never really pictured Itachi being someone capable of doing domestic duties, but by the smells wafting through her small apartment, he was probably a better cook than she was. She watched him for a few minutes in amazement as he worked, leaning on the doorway for support.

Itachi sensed someone watching him, and turned his head for a moment from the two fillets he was stir-frying to see Sakura up and about. He frowned slightly, having wished to finish the meal before she woke, and could tell she was surprised to see him do something as mundane as cooking.

"You are awake." He sighed, turning back to the fish to be sure they did not burn. That would be simply unacceptable for him. She giggled at his disappointment, walking fully into the kitchen, then giving him a hug from behind. She sighed happily, breathing his clean scent, and then kissing his shoulder blade through his navy blue shirt.

"Imagine, the _great_ Uchiha Itachi. Cooking. You have to admit, it is something hard to picture." She muttered with no small amount of humor. He chuckled under his breath, knowing the prejudice against men that claimed they could not cook, but he had clearly proved that theory wrong. He was always one to show people that they were incorrect.

"Sakura, I think it is _because _I am 'the great Uchiha Itachi' that I can cook." He said with amusement. Sakura laughed, kissing his other shoulder blade for good measure.

"This smells really good, Itachi. You damn showoff; you can probably cook better than me."

The fish cooked to perfection, and the miso soup finished, Itachi switched off the stove top, then twisted in her arms. The only thing they were waiting for still was the rice, and he was certain that would be finished soon enough. He was not the best cook in the world, that title belonged to his late mother, but he was damn close to that, and he knew it. His mother had been the one to teach him, after all.

When he became an ANBU, he started to go on missions all hours during the night, and so she would stay up to give him something for the road. Eventually though, after a few months of poor sleep, she was fed up. So, instead of making him meals every mission, she taught him how to do it himself, and he cooked his own food. Mikoto had been very proud of her son's obvious talent, and had secretly teased him, saying that if his shinobi career failed somehow, he could always become a worldwide famous chef.

"Sakura, I am _certain_ I can cook better than you." He murmured, propping her up on the counter opposite of therange. Itachi placed a hand on the counter on either side of her hips, and they simultaneously reached for each other. Their lips locked in a frenzy, and with how crazy her hormones were roaring, her legs wrapped around his torso, bringing him in closer.

She groaned in disbelief, wondering if she was always turned on so easily. Sakura figured it must have been due to her pregnancy. Her bare feet ran sensually down his back, and with skill, hooked under his shirt to start pulling up. Seeing her intentions, Itachi tugged the offending material over his head, and then tossed it to the ground. She cinched closer to the edge of the counter top, not satisfied until she was resting on his crotch. Her hips shifted slightly, grinding into him in a way she knew he liked.

It was then that he decided they had gone too far, and broke his mouth away from her temptations. He frowned in disapproval, as if to tell her she should know better. "That is enough, Sakura." Itachi whispered.

Sakura snorted. "Really, Itachi? Do you honestly think that just because I am pregnant, we cannot have sex? We did it plenty of times before, and I was pregnant then."

"I did not know you were pregnant then." He replied simply.

She let out a long, shaky sigh. "Itachi, it is medically safe for us to have sex. It will not harm the fetus in any way."

He blinked a few times, looked down at the woman, only then remembering something Shisui had told him a little while before he died. He had said something along the lines of, _'Itachi-chan, when you grow up, fuck a pregnant woman into the ground. That is the most amazing thing in the world.'_ He had only been thirteen, and while it was unpronounced, girls were still icky back then. Itachi had looked up in horror at his older cousin, unable to disguise the disgust in his eyes.

Shisui had laughed, said that he was such a prude for someone his age, and then gone somewhere to tease Hana. He had not known then, but at the time, though Shisui had only been seventeen, he had a secret lover in the Uchiha, who Itachi figured he must have conceived with. The child had never been born though, because of _that_ incident.

Recollecting his thoughts, Itachi moved back to her, aware now that she was right. He seared her with his taunting lips, his fingers ghosting under the seams of her red vest, threatening to tear the fabric apart to get to her. This time, they were timely interrupted by the rice cooker's _ding_, indicating that dinner was ready to be eaten. As if on cue, Sakura's stomach gave a loud grumble, which Itachi smirked at. He stepped away from the counter, letting her (with some amount of embarrassment) slip down to the floor.

Sakura helped him take out the necessary dishes for what he had so courteously made. With the table finally put together Itachi served her a healthy portion, then sat at the kitchen table across from her. Saying _Itadakimasu_, they both gladly dug into the delicious meal. Sakura was amazed with just how adept Itachi was in the kitchen, and while she was slightly injured by the fact that he could cook so much better than her that it was insulting, she was glad he could. It was his little quirks that made him seem more human.

While he insisted on doing it himself, Sakura cleaned the dishes herself, only grudgingly allowing him to dry them for her. The kitchen spotless, Sakura grabbed his hand and led him into the bedroom, intending to deal with some unfinished business.

Seriously, Itachi wondered what it would take to get through a night without any interruptions. Sakura, more than eager enough to spend the evening making sweet, sweet love, had already took the duty of stripping them both, which he had watched her do with amusement. There was nothing shy about her, unlike the first time he had made love to her. He reveled in the fact that she was not afraid of him, that she was willing to be herself around him. If one person could accept him for what happened, then surely more could as well.

She must have felt somewhat controlling this time, because when the door bell rang, she was straddling him with no abandon. They both growled in frustration at the intruding sound. He was tempted to flip her over and continue for her, because he could tell she intended to answer the door. Itachi did not get the chance to do this though, because a second later she had crawled off him, and was wrapping a ruffled sheet around her bare form. Honestly, he wanted to complain like a deprived child; which if he thought about it, was exactly how he felt right then.

Frowning, and sincerely hoping it was not Kakashi or Naruto at her front door, Sakura cinched the sheet closer to herself, then unlocked the deadbolt. She opened the door to an equally disappointed Ino. They both stood in silence, neither knowing what to tell each other. Sakura knew that Ino felt betrayed, she was her best friend, but she had not told her about Itachi. It had been a dreadful secret though, so Sakura hoped that she understood if but a little.

Clearly, they had been standing there for a long time, because Itachi, irritated with the fact that she had left him cold and unsatisfied, snarled to himself. It was loud enough for the two kunoichi to hear though, and a look of fear rose into her bright blue eyes. Sakura laughed at Ino's worry, knowing her friend must think Itachi to be a terrifying monster of a man. She did not know that Sakura had just left him not sedated, and that was he reason for being angry.

"Sakura, I will happily march out there as I am now, and drag you back. Do not test my patience." He grumbled for them both to hear. Sakura blushed, and pulled Ino into her flat, ignoring the warning she was given.

"No, you will not, Itachi. Just grab a sheet." Sakura called back at him, her tone teasing. Ino froze when she heard the moaning of bedsprings, and the smooth voice that was currently swearing quietly. He appeared from the bedroom, a delicate frown marring his perfect features, and his slender fingers just barely holding a thin sheet up at his narrow hips.

"Yamanaka." Itachi muttered, nodding his head to the shocked kunoichi, who was now even more of a nervous wreck, due to the fact that she knew her name. She bowed fully, not wanting to be rude. She then remembered the reason she had even come over.

"Uchiha-san, my shishou, Ibiki, requires your presence." She said softly, not looking into his eyes, for fear of his anger. He huffed softly, then returned to the bedroom to dress properly. Sakura laughed again at the poor, shocked Ino, who was a beet red darker than Hinata had ever flushed.

When Itachi walked out of the room, dressed simply in shinobi pants and a navy blue shirt. He did not so much as spare Ino a glance, instead marching straight to Sakura, and leaning down to her level, his lips grazing tauntingly over the lobe of her ear.

"I am guessing this is my interrogation. It may take some time, so when I get back, I want you finished with whatever you need to deal with. By then, I expect you to be on the bed, waiting for me." He breathed dangerously. She had to suppress a pleasured shudder as he gently sucked on her ear, but could not resist the urge to blush when he disappeared from her living room with a flock of ravens.

Ino stared at the girl who she had thought was her best friend, disbelief rolling off her in waves. Sakura sighed, then flopped herself onto the couch. Ino followed suit, expecting a full, and very detailed explanation.

"Do you remember that seduction mission we took together a little over a month ago?" Sakura started slowly. Ino nodded her head, recalling that Sakura had failed her portion of that mission. She then remembered the strange occurrence after Sakura had walked out from the back room of that bar; she had heatedly kissed another woman.

"Well, that is how this all started. Those three kunoichi had actually been Akatsuki. You had been dealing with Deidara, Hinata with Hidan, and I was with Itachi."

Ino blinked, then threw her head back in laughter. Three, fully grown men using henge to disguise themselves into women was a humorous idea. Sakura joined her, and then continued.

"Our target was a sick, sick man. He liked the idea of two women kissing, and we had to oblige his wishes to maintain our covers. It was then that I realized that he was really a _she_, and I demanded that he release his henge. When he did, there was a gorgeous, _naked_, Uchiha Itachi flaunting his assets before me. The truth is, the target did not commit suicide like I said he did in my mission report, but rather, I killed him."

Ino gave her a disapproving, yet slightly jealous look. Sakura blushed, but refused to weaken herself entirely. She would finish the embarrassing story, even if Ino wanted to kill her afterwards.

"Most would not believe this about someone as powerful as Itachi, and you cannot repeat this to anyone, but when our eyes met, there was something I saw in them. He was so lonely, broken, just like how I felt. It was as if he needed someone to care for him, even if everyone thought he was an S-class criminal. And to be honest, I probably needed him just as much."

Ino was utterly shocked. Had her best friend really lost her virginity in the back of a grungy bar? Innocent, sweet, loving Sakura? "He fucked you into the ground, right?" She asked with a frown. Sakura shook her head.

"No, he was amazingly gentle, and more careful than any other man ever could be. I must be a failure as a kunoichi, because I did not judge him for the crimes he had been charged with. He told me later about the massacre, even though he had not needed to. After what he told me, I knew we could not end it when we walked out of that room. He promised me we would meet again, and that he could not allow it to end as a one-night stand."

Ino could not believe what she was hearing. Uchiha Itachi being careful with someone, a murderer like him, needing the comfort of someone else? It could not be true, but Ino knew Sakura was not a liar. This Uchiha may just have feelings for her, and it was a strange thought.

"He snuck himself into the village so we could be together, and about a week ago, I found out... I am pregnant." Sakura whispered. Sakura waited for the explosion to erupt, for Ino to yell with anger. When she looked at the blond kunoichi though, Ino had tears in her eyes. Ino jumped for Sakura, wrapping her arms around the surprised girl, and crying out.

"Forehead, how can you be having a baby with him? What about Sasuke? I was supposed to have at least two kids with Kiba before you even got a boyfriend! Does he even love you?" She wailed, clutching Sakura.

"Pig, I am sure you will catch up to me soon enough." She began cheekily, but then turned sober before continuing. "I would like to think that he loves me, but I do not even know how I feel for him. All I am certain of is that if anyone hurt him, or if he left me for some reason, I would not be able to survive. I want to make him happy, and I want to see how his face lights up when first looking at our child."

"That is called love, forehead! How can you not know that?" Ino asked in bewilderment, wiping her eyes. Sakura blushed. Was that how she felt? Did she really love Itachi? She had once thought herself to love Sasuke, and this did not feel anything like that.

"Is that what I feel, pig? Is this love?" Sakura asked in awe, placing a hand on her stomach. "I do not even know how he feels. What if he does not love me back?" It was her turn to cry. She could not bear the thought of being nothing but a toy to him, while she felt for him as she did. Sakura had to remind herself that Itachi had left Akatsuki for her, and given up his plans for Sasuke all for her sake. She should not be doubting him like she was.

"Ino, I know that he loves me. He has to. I do not think he would have bothered to do all that he had if he did not feel as I do. I will not stop believing in him because of what sort of life he has led before meeting me." Sakura shook her head stubbornly.

Itachi sighed, feeling happy to have gotten so much off his chest. The interrogation had lasted an hour, but that was only because he had not resisted Ibiki's methods. In the end, the master interrogator had concluded that he was, indeed innocent, and that he could remain in konoha. It was so relieving to know that he was free, and he was more than glad to share every piece of information he had about Akatsuki.

When he left the chambers hidden below the hokage, he was given a new hitai-ate. He had stared down at the perfectly carved metal, running an unsure finger over the unmarred material. With a higher level of awe than he was used to feeling, he lifted it to his forehead, then tied the ends together behind his head.

With the new hitai-ate, he was safe to walk the streets of his home village. He exited the hokage tower with a new sense of being, and undeniable pride. Itachi felt like he belonged somewhere for the first time in nearly a decade, and he liked the feeling.

He ignored the looks he got when walking down the crowded market area, going in the direction of Sakura's apartment. He had gotten the same looks when he had lived in konoha, because of his almost unnatural level of strength. No one approached him, and he was content with it staying that way. As long as he did not get attacked, it did not matter too much to him.

When reaching the apartment building where Sakura resided in, he felt as if he was not ready to enter. It was empty of civilians in this part, and so when he looked down the dark street, he knew where he needed to be. Itachi pivoted on his feet, then continued to where he knew the Uchiha compound was.

He did not see anyone on his way, and a strange sense of forbearance washed over him. Something about entering made him feel sick, but Itachi knew he had to face his past, after so many years of running from it. The ghosts that haunted the compound deserved to move on, and that was not going to happen until he set them free.

Almost tiredly, he took the first step into his old home, only just barely aware that drops of rain were starting to slowly fall from the night sky. He felt pathetically weak, but did not turn away from his nightmares, and stumbled forward. Itachi forced himself to take in the sad state of the compound, remembering the faces of each family member, and how he had killed them heartlessly.

Flashes of little girls wearing flowers in their black hair and elderly men sitting out on their porches, observing how the day melted into gold every sunset. His mother doing his laundry for him, even though he insisted that he could do it himself. Sasuke, begging him to train with him. It all came back, all the things that he missed, and the memories he would never be capable of recreating.

Before he knew it, Itachi had wandered to the head house, where he had spent his childhood, where he had grown up. He slid the door open and stepped out of the now pouring rain, then slipped out of his shinobi sandals. He left them out by the door, then strayed around the house. He did not care about the dust, nor the depressing creak that sounded with every step he took. This was his home.

He revisited every room, before stopping at the door into his parents' quarters. It did not feel appropriate for him to trespass into the room where they had died, where he had killed them mercilessly.

Stepping into the dirty room, the first thing his eyes caught sight of was the white lines ANBU had made around his fallen parents during the investigation they had instigated. Letting out a shaky sigh, he walked faintly to that spot, bowing on all fours where they had been murdered by their own son.

When entering the Uchiha compound, he had not known what he was looking for, but now he understood. He needed some form of closure, he longed for their forgiveness. Even if he did not deserve that much from them, that was all he wanted.

"Forgive me, Kaa-san, Chichi-ue. I wish that it had not come to this." He whispered, letting the restrained tears finally break through. The only thing he was thankful for was that Sakura did not have to see him groveling as he was.

Sakura was curled up alone on the couch when he stepped through the door, only stirring when hearing the distinct sound of the lock clicking behind him. She sat up, not caring that the sheets covering her fell at her hips. She let her eyes meet his, and was shocked by the sorrow found there.

"I went to visit my parents." He murmured. Sakura frowned, standing up and wrapping two confident arms around him. She said nothing, knowing that it was only the reassurance of her presence that he needed. He drank in her simple happiness, taking comfort in it.

**AN: Take that, world! Itachi-kun can cook! LOL. Please review!**


	10. Chapter 10

Pein sighed, rubbing his temples with slow motions. It had been nearly a month, an unusually long time for someone of Zetsu's caliber to hunt down someone, even if it was the Uchiha protege. If Itachi thought that just because he had escaped during the battle that he was letting him go home-free, then he was sadly mistaken. As the leader of Akatsuki, he refused to let members of his organization go as they wished. It showed weakness in his command, and he would not allow it.

Konan looked sadly at him from where she stood in the shadows, her concern clear. Pein was become obsessed with his goals, and it worried her. She wished that it was still as simple as wanting worldwide peace to reign, but now he was too consumed with plans of world domination. He was changing from the man she fell in love with, right in front of her eyes, and she had no way to stop it.

He grunted again, showing his distress, and she frowned. "Pein-sama, do you want a shoulder massage?" She asked softly, her fingers moving shyly through blue hair, moving it from her face. He shot her an understanding glance, then shook his head.

"Perhaps later, Kona-chan." He murmured, more to himself than anyone else. A small smile could not help but to show itself on her usually indifferent face. She was happy to see that at least a small part of the man she loved was still alive, if deep down inside of him. If only there was a way to drag that person back out, where he belonged.

There was a confident knock on the large, wooden door to his office, and the ghost of a smile disappeared instantly. It opened when receiving permission, revealing a worn Zetsu. Pein immediately set the scroll he was reading down, giving his best reconnaissance shinobi his full, undivided attention. He hoped, considering how long he had been away, that Zetsu's results were satisfying. If not, a punishment was certainly in order.

"I found the Uchiha, Leader-sama." Zetsu said calmly. A distorted smile etched into Pein's expression, showing he was pleased by this set of information. His recon shinobi had results, at least. He might have had to dispose of him, should he have returned fruitless.

"Where is he hiding?" Pein asked pleasantly. He was finally going to get his best member back, and things were going to go back to as they should be. He would not accept anything else.

"Strangely enough, he has been residing in his old village, Konohagakure, with a kunoichi. Their relations are anything but platonic." Zetsu replied calmly. Pein's grey eyes thinned into dangerous slits at this information, and he mused darkly. Was this mystery kunoichi the reason that Itachi left, or had they met after? She definitely was a personal reason to run from Akatsuki. She would have to be taken care of, if things were going to be set in order.

"Elaborate. Who is this kunoichi?"

Zetsu sighed. "Haruno Sakura, the kunoichi who defeated Sasori a few years back. For someone who has a certain hatred for the Akatsuki, she has no objections to Itachi. We have reason to believe that she is his reasoning for returning to his original village. It is also likely that he has enclosed information on Akatsuki, because he no longer holds missing-nin status. What he has told Konoha, we have yet to discover."

Pein ground his teeth together in displeasure. If Itachi had truly betrayed Akatsuki, like Zetsu believed he had, then he would need to take care of more than just the girl. The Uchiha was being punished for his disloyalty, there was nothing else to it.

Konan bit her lip, hiding her face in the shadows of Pein's office. She had to do something soon, to save him from himself, before something bad really did happen. He had to find a way to be who he used to be, or he was going to be stopped, by her. This was not who he was, and he needed to see that. Konan needed a plan to save him.

"Very well. No one is to get any missions, and when all of Akatsuki is back from their duties, have them come to me. We will plan how to deal with this problem then." Pein ordered strictly. Zetsu nodded his head in affirmation, then sank into the office floor, disappearing effectively. It might be a while until everyone was returned, but this was of utmost importance. No one slipped through his fingers, not even Uchiha Itachi.

After a month of evaluation, and retaking the ANBU tests, Itachi found himself slowly walking into Tsunade's office for his first mission as a loyal, Konoha shinobi. He had been given the necessary ANBU armor, arm guards and mask, and his own freshly minted katana, never even having been unsheathed. Prepared by dressed in this attire, he walked into the Hokage's office.

He bowed respectfully, his eyes twinkling with excitement from behind his mask. Tsunade took a swig of her sake, then put the bottle down to give him her full attention. She smirked slightly at seeing the Uchiha in uniform, and made a note in the back of her head to tell Sakura that he was handsome, for a younger man. That went beside the file that said perverted guys with long, white hair were hot. Every woman had her preferences.

"Hawk, as your first mission, I am listing you as captain of a three-man squad. S-class informational related; I need you to collect some intelligence from an informant I have in Rain. It is linked to Akatsuki." She addressed him with a practiced calmness, watching as he went frigid with disgust at mere mentioning of his feigned affiliation. At least she knew he was trustworthy, because she did not take him as the sort of man to show any sort of change in mood or character easily.

"If you and your team should be approached by anyone afflicted with that organization, you are to avoid battle, and if possible, escape. Am I understood?" Tsunade asked sternly. Itachi figured this entire mission was somehow a test for him, and he did not intend to fail it, simply by making a scene with the Akatsuki.

"Yes, Hokage-sama. Might I ask who else is on my team?" He asked, giving a short, curt nod.

"Shiranui, Hatake and Yamato. I assume you are already familiar with them, so I put them on your team for your first mission." She replied, tossing him a scroll with more information on his newly commissioned assignment. He caught it easily with one hand, opening it to briefly read what was expected of him, then rolling it back up.

"Three days should be more than enough time for a team with as much experience as this one. I do not believe my apprentice will be able of managing without you much longer than that, Hawk." Tsunade continued with a smirk. He did not miss this, and made a smirk of his own, though she could not see it through his mask. He was unsurprised that Tsunade had brought Sakura up. Though she had objected to the pregnancy at first, she eventually accepted it, once seeing them together more.

"Yes, Hokage-sama."

Sakura was over halfway through her first trimester, and though the physical signs had yet to appear, it was easy to tell because of her emotional state. She was constantly changing moods, from utter depression, to livid anger, to absolute happiness. Sometimes, when he knew she was not looking, he would glance at the fetus with his sharingan, to see how far it had developed. He was so proud of the fact that he was going to be a father, and that the woman carrying his child was Sakura. He would not wish that it had been any other woman in the world.

"Very well. You are dismissed. I expect a full mission report when you return."

With that, he bowed again silently, then disappeared in a puff of white smoke. The time of his departure was in only twenty minutes, as indicated inside the scroll, so he wanted to spend the last of his time with Sakura. She was most likely awake by then, he mused, shading his eyes as he looked up at the sky.

Sakura had the tendency to sleep in, at least for as long as she had been pregnant, so he never expected her to be up and about until midmorning.

A small part of him wondered what it would have been like if the massacre had never happened, what his mother's reaction would have been when he told her that he had produced an heir. For some reason, he imagined her squealing in delight, then pulling him into a strangling hug. Then his father would have walked in and said something having to do with marriage. Though if Itachi thought about it, he would come to the conclusion that Sakura would already be his wife at that point.

What would Sasuke have thought, with his brother and kunoichi teammate together? Itachi was certain that he would be about just as comfortable with it as he was now, or not at all. Then again, if Sasuke had never chased him, leaving Konoha behind, she would have definitely ended up with his brother instead. That thought alone sickened him.

"I am in the kitchen!" Sakura called to Itachi, hearing him open and then shut the front door. He smiled to himself, pleased that she was, indeed awake, and he silently made his way to her. She was sitting at the kitchen table, her legs crossed, and she was eating a rather repulsive breakfast of what looked to consist of dill pickles and organic peanut butter. He supposed it was better she was eating _that_ than nothing at all. Sakura had a hard time keeping anything down in the morning, with her pregnancy.

"Did you sleep well?" He asked softly, leaning down kiss her forehead. Her mouth full of pickle-nut butter, she hummed her agreement, and he chuckled softly, taking the seat next to her. He watched her intently as she happily dipped another pickle into the jar of poor, abused peanut butter. She was perfectly content in eating her strange breakfast in silence.

"How did it go with Tsunade-shishou?" Sakura asked, swallowing, and then spinning the jar shut. Her appetite was rather small, especially in the mornings.

"I was assigned a mission to Rain." He replied. Her smile at this was soft, and he could tell that she was going to miss him while he was away. It would only be for a few days though, and then he would come back to her.

Sakura did not need to tell him as much, but she could not help but to say, "Be careful, Itachi." She would not be able to handle it if he returned in pieces, but had to remind herself that this was Itachi, and so he would succeed without a single problem. He did not need her concern, but she had it anyway. He was slowly becoming her every living thought, so it was natural she would worry over him.

"I always am, Sakura." He whispered, pulling her closer and into his arms. She sighed into his chest, knowing he was telling the truth, then tilted her head up to look into his piercing, black eyes. They were soft for her though, a smoldering charcoal. He took advantage of her position, smoothly dipping his mouth down to capture hers.

Sakura twisted slightly in his hold, freeing an arm to wrap it around his neck, effectively cinching their bodies together. His tongue sensually ran along the seam of her lips, begging for entrance. She opened up for him, and he greedily partook in her, drinking Sakura's throaty moans as they slowly crept from the back of her mouth. Her hand tightened in his hair when he softly grunted back, gasping in pleasure.

Sakura decided that what he was doing was utterly unfair, the way he was torturing her, only to leave in a few, short minutes. He was building that fire, one that would fester until he put it out himself. Of course, there was not nearly enough time for that then, he had to leave for his mission, and she knew that those three days were going to be hard.

She struggled for freedom, needing air after such a long, searing kiss, but he did not pause. Releasing her lips, and listening to her as she gasped for air, Itachi did not so much as pause, but moved his mouth along her jawline, then slowly down her neck, lapping at her jumping pulse.

Without her expecting it, a large, but slender, hand slipped under her tee shirt, and his long fingers stretched out across her stomach. Sakura felt flutters deep in her core, excitement spreading from the skin contact. It was at this moment that he decided to break away. She groaned in disappointment, but understood what it meant. Itachi had to go on his mission.

"You better be a good girl when I am gone." He muttered, taking in air. She had been about to reply when an especially mischievous hand reached up to twist a nipple harshly. She sucked in a quick breath of air, and then glared up at him for his teasing.

"That was not nice." She grumbled, reaching down bravely to squeeze him, but his hand caught her wrist before she could slip below his pants line. He smirked, then gave her one more kiss, before tugging her arms away from around his neck.

"It was not supposed to be nice." He replied smugly, slowly standing up. She mumbled something he did not catch under his breath, and then followed in suite.

"Wait for me, and I will walk you to the gait." Sakura said, rushing to the bedroom to put on a jacket and pair of pants. He waited for her, and took her hand after strapping his katana onto his back. Pausing only so she could lock the door, they made their way to the northern gate. Kakashi, Yamato and Genma were already waiting for Itachi, all three of them dressed in ANBU apparel. Sakura frowned at the fact that Kakashi had managed to make it on time for this particular mission, but when it was with team seven, he did not even bother.

"Team, take traveling stance B." Itachi commanded, walking to the lead. Their masks were instantaneously lifted to cover their faces, and with only a short glance over his should towards her, he disappeared with a flash. The remaining of the group followed quickly after.

She was so proud of him, and how far he had gone. Only little over a month previous, he had been a full Akatsuki member with honors, and now, he was leading an ANBU squad into his first respectable mission he had in a decade. Her hand subconsciously rested on her flat abdomen, as if to check if there was any growth since last time she felt her stomach. There was not though, and so she stared down at her hands.

"Hey, forehead! You are not fat yet!" Sakura heard a certain obnoxious, blond kunoichi shout to her, and she looked up to see Ino running up to her. Sakura growled under her breath, remembering having explained this concept to Ino on several occasions, but she still did not seem to make sense of it.

"I _told _you, it is only my first trimester. The physical signs do not show for a few months." Sakura complained, walking the remaining distance to her best friend. Ino laughed, which meant that she had been joking, and knew well enough when the weight gain would set in. Ino was, naturally, jealous of her rival and best friend, but she knew that if anyone deserved the hunk of a man that she had reeled in, than it was Sakura. Sakura had suffered for years, and now, she was finally getting something in return. Besides, from what she could tell, Itachi was much too somber for a girl like her.

"How cute. You came to see Itachi off on his first mission right? How long is he going to be gone?" She questioned teasingly, though still wanting to know the answers. Sakura blushed, wishing she was not as predictable as she was. There was no point in denying it, Ino was a specialist in discovering the truth in her victim's words, and Sakura was one of the worst liars she knew of.

"Three days, at the most. He is going into Rain though, so I am worried. From what he has told us, Akatsuki is based in Rain. I hope that they do not run into them." Sakura sighed, subconsciously rubbing her tummy. It was a careful, loving action, meant to sooth, as if she somehow knew that her child was distressed by his father's absence. Ino watched Sakura's subtle movements, wondering if the child even took notice of her doting.

"You know, I do not think Itachi would want you worrying about him. He would say it was bad for the baby." Ino said, linking their arms. Sakura wished she knew how Ino always found out the little details of everything. It was somewhat creepy that she knew what Itachi had told her so long ago, when they had been making their way to the Hokage's office to reveal the truth of the massacre.

"I am not sure I want to know how you know he said that to me, but you are right. I just cannot bear the thought of losing him now, with baby-chan on the way." Sakura mused, following her friend down the now-bustling streets of Konoha. Ino clicked her tongue reproachfully, not approving of how anxious Sakura was. It was understanding though, and she wondered if she would ever find herself in a similar situation. Of course, she would much rather be married before having children. Her father would kill anyone who impregnated her if it was any other way.

"Do you think he will ever want to marry you?"

There it was, the forbidden subject that Sakura had been so desperately trying to avoid with Ino for so long. In complete honesty, Sakura was unsure if Itachi ever intended to make her his wife; he had certainly not planned for her to conceive. This did not mean he did not welcome the idea, he was quite please with the thought of being a father, of creating something instead of destroying it, but whether or not he wished for their relationship to progress, she had not a single idea. All she knew to be certain was that Itachi was not the sort of man to leave things loosely, he kept things tied together and stable.

"I am not sure he has even thought about marriage with me, but I will admit, I have wanted something to that extent for a little while now. Maybe because the notion of birthing a child in wedlock is so very looked down upon, but I do not want my child to be a bastard." Sakura murmured, only barely noticing that Ino had pulled her into a clothing store.

"Well, if the way he looks at you is any indication, I would say he has every intention in making you his lawful wife. It is actually sort of adorable, how soft his gaze becomes when he turns to look at you. I wish Kiba was more sensitive like that." Ino sighed softly, starting to sift through a rack of clothing. A short silence fell, as it was impossible for it to be quiet for too long, with Ino around, and Sakura took the chance to take in her surroundings

Sakura quickly realized she was standing in the middle of a lingerie store, a place she had never bothered to go to before, unless it was for a seduction mission. Her face turned bright red as her mind deciphered why Ino would take her to such a place. For Itachi's benefit.

"Ino, you know that I will never be caught dead in a thong, so why the hell did you bring me here?" Sakura seethed, crossing her arms. She may have fallen for Itachi, but she was not going to wear a useless scraps of lacy underwear that showed more than it covered. Besides, she already knew he would rather see her completely naked, and would only think garments such as lingerie was made to tease him.

"I know what you are thinking, forehead, and you are wrong. _Every _man appreciates lingerie, even if it is only to rip it off after seeing it for a second. You need to learn how to be sexy." Ino scolded, pulling a particularly small piece of black lace from the wrack and holding it up to Sakura's breasts. She squealed, then dragged the mortified Sakura into the changing room.

Itachi streaked ahead, anxious to get home. _Home_. This was the first time he had been able to call a place that in a long time. Akatsuki was not a home, it was a residence, an organization, his own personal hell. Konoha was a home. He was born there, and years in the future, after seeing several generations of the new Uchiha clan mature, he wanted to die there. It was home because Sakura was there, and his child was going to be there.

Kakashi smirked behind his mask, seeing how excited the Uchiha was to get back to Konoha. It could have been because he wanted to get as far from the Akatsuki headquarters as possible, but he liked to think it might have been because of a certain pink haired girl waiting for him in her apartment. He wondered what would have become of the solemn Uchiha if he had never met the lovable kunoichi. He certainly would not be in a rush to get back to Konoha, nor would he be a loyal shinobi again.

He paused suddenly, catching the scent that he had only encountered once, but was unmistakable. Itachi seemed to realize it at the same moment, because he silently touched his finger to his nose, and then pointed it forward. _Speed up._ Understandably, they were avoiding any meeting with Hoshigaki Kisame, who was hot on their trail.

It was too late to make so much progress though, because Kisame materialized into existence before them. His expression was grim, as if he was the bearer of bad news. He would, naturally know what was going on, with Itachi heading a squad of ANBU, but he wished it did not have to be as it was. It was causing him a lot of problems now that Itachi had defected from Akatsuki.

"Itachi. It seems that you have shown were your allegiance truly is." Kisame said. Itachi sighed, lifting his ANBU mask up. His partner was never someone he was really close to, but Kisame had been next to him in battle for so many years. A certain trust grew from that, though there was no real friendship between them.

"I have always been a loyal Konoha shinobi, Kisame." Itachi replied calmly, subtly signaling for his team to continue on. Yamato and Genma nodded curtly, then flashed forward, using chakra to catapult ahead. Kakashi however, paused a moment.

"I will tell Sakura that you are going to be a little late." He said, then following his other teammates. Itachi said nothing, but understood what he was saying underneath. This was a test, to see if he could be trusted. Itachi would not fail something so simple, not that he needed to pretend that he was a truthful shinobi.

"I will not be long." He responded softly, but he knew Kakashi had heard him.

"Interesting that you would have left Akatsuki for the kyuubi's kunoichi friend. How long have you been involved with her?" Kisame asked curiously. Itachi frowned, having no intention in giving any information about Sakura. While he had some sort of connection with Kisame, he had no doubt that whatever information he shared, would become known to Pein. It was his plan to keep the formidable Akatsuki leader guessing.

"Long enough." He answered vaguely. Kisame cackled to himself, seeing no scheme of his was ever going to get through the great Uchiha Itachi.

"Honestly, I do not care, Itachi. You are lucky that you managed to find someone to care about, because the rest of us are going to have to resort to prostitutes for the rest of our lives. Pein-sama does not like it so much though."

"Pein sent you to check on me."

"Yes. As far as I know, he intends to attack Konoha for this." Kisame informed him. Itachi blinked, wondering why he would even bother to help him.

Kisame huffed. "Pein is being ridiculous. If any S-class criminal has a chance, then they should be allowed to take it." He had chosen to become a criminal, but he had the sense to know that Itachi had not. If that young Uchiha had any chance with happiness, then he should experience it. He would not be involved with Pein's little competition.

"Thank you, Kisame." Itachi murmured, disappearing a second later. Sakura was waiting for him.

**AN: Review! ^^**


	11. Chapter 11

Sakura was never the one to wake up first. So it was unusual that when she shifted slowly, her eyes still blurred from a long night's sleep, she saw that he was still motionless. A small smile graced her features, and as she sat up to look at him, a steady hand reached to move his bangs from his pale, aristocratic face. He still did not stir, and so she softly kissed the tip of his sharply shaped nose, and then both of his closed eyes.

She hated to wake him up, but it was an important day. Not only was Sasuke going to be released, but they were going to visit the hospital for an appointment with Shizune. It was the first time they were going to see the child, through the ultrasound.

He sighed quietly, his eyes slowly fluttering open. They were hazy from sleeping so long, but once they cleared, they focused sharply on the small, protruding bump. Every time he saw the evidence of her pregnancy, it was shocking to him, and he was not sure why. Maybe because, in all of his careful planning, he had never included himself becoming a father. That had been Sasuke's job.

His gaze softened, and he smoothed his fingers over the rumpled material covering her stomach. "Ohayo gozaimasu, Sakura." He mumbled, then turning to look up at her. Her stomach fluttered at the gentle, silky tone in his voice, sensing the care in it. A blush tickled her cheeks, and she silently mouthed the words back at him.

Itachi sat up next to her, looking out of the window by her bed to estimate the time. It seemed that he had slept in a little longer than usual, and so, with a stretch, he lifted the sheets and blankets away, the swerved his body to gracefully slip out, not disturbing Sakura's side of the bed at all. He lifted a hand to touch her cheek, then kissing her chastely.

"You can take the first shower, I will make breakfast." He murmured, leaving the room a second later. She nodded her head in agreement just as he left, letting out a deep breath of air while touching her fingers to her lips. After all that they had done, he still made her heart pound excitedly with a simple kiss. She tossed the blankets aside completely, then stumbled out of bed, moving directly to the bathroom.

The faucet squeaked as she turned the knob, and she felt the running water with her hand, waiting for a satisfactory temperature. When it became hot enough for her tastes, she switched the leaver that directed the water to the shower head. Steam steadily filled the small bathroom, and with a towel out and waiting, Sakura pulled the tee she had stolen from Itachi over her head, leaving it on the tiled floor with her underwear.

Stepping into the shower, Sakura could not help but to remember the last time she had been under the steady stream, and how Itachi had propped her up against the shower wall and made love to her there. Another blush crept into her features, and this time, she was embarrassed by the fact. Sakura had figured early on that Itachi was a very _needy_ man, especially after returning home from a particularly long and tedious mission. She, predictably enough, never bothered to deny him.

Eggs cooked and kept warm in the oven, andrice in the cooker, Itachi left the kitchen to take his own shower. When he found that Sakura was still in the shower, he did not pause, instead going into the steam-filled bathroom. She was humming a tune he did not recognize, and the sound was muffled by the running water. He stripped his own clothes off, leaving them onto the floor with Sakura's then stepped in with her.

Sakura did not stop her humming, or even look up at him, though he was certain she knew he was there in the shower with her. She kept stroking her wet, bare abdomen instead, her eyes having only concentration for the small bump, and the child protected behind it. He smiled without her seeing, then looped two arms around her, placing his hands over hers.

She seemed to pause at this, then arched her neck back to look at him from where he stood behind her. He nudged her with his nose softly, as if to tell her to continue, and she started to hum again. It was not that she had a beautiful voice, though it was not imperfect, but he loved the sound of it because of all the adoration and absolute affection that he sensed from her that made every difference in the world. A songbird could have sung something to him at the same time, and he would still prefer hearing Sakura, because of who it was directed to.

Only slightly out of character, Itachi nuzzled his nose into her neck, squeezing her tighter into his arms. Her nameless tune was cut off, and she giggled instead, which he decided was a sweet sound as well. Finding out Sakura was a very ticklish person had happened not long after his return to Konoha, when running light fingers along her bare side one night.

He had meant it to be alluring and sexy, but she had laughed instead, then complained about him tickling her. He had chuckled at that, then repeated the action teasingly, finding it very entertaining to watch her squirm and giggle at the same time. Eventually, irritated with his taunting, she had growled, then rolled over on top of him. His actions were forgotten seconds later, when she decided to tease him back herself.

Knowing she had yet to finish washing herself, Itachi grabbed the bottle of body wash, putting a fair amount into his hand. He lathered until his hands were covered with soapsuds, and then started to carefully scrub her stomach. Her giggling ceased, and she stood, submitting to him entirely. Itachi moved his sudsy fingers under the curve of her breasts, and then over them, not missing how they perked with his touch.

He did not miss a single inch of her skin, washing every part of her body, while she patiently stood and watched him. Once he finished, and was standing straight again, she turned to face him, a coy smile on her face. He had already made to lather his hair, but she took the same bottle of body wash (which smelled distinctly of peaches and sugar), and poured some into her hand.

Sakura repeated exactly what he had done, running soapy fingers up and down his toned stomach, around narrow hips and a flat buttocks, along the plains of his back, and then his muscular arms and legs. Her eyes never left his, and when she finished, she reached up to scrub his hair as well, not allowing him to do anything. She was gentle with each lingering touch, not hesitating with what she was doing until he had rinsed out his hair, and they were both clean.

By then, the hot water had very nearly run out, and so Itachi reached behind, turning the knob off. With a kiss to the cheek, he picked up her towel, then drying her off throughly. He took his own, and then wrapping in around his hips lazily, he left for the kitchen, to check on the rice. Thus ending like every shower they took, and every morning that passed.

Satisfied in finding that the rice was waiting, already having set to the _warm _setting, Itachi left the kitchen to find himself something to wear. Sakura was already mostly dressed, with her underwear and a pair of sweats on, and she was pulling one of his shirts over her head. Ino had yet to drag her into the civilian shops with maternity clothing in them, so she had settled for stealing his clothes. He did not mind, instead finding it rather cute on her.

After tugging on a standard pair of shinobi pants and a navy blue shirt with netting, Itachi and Sakura sat down to an easy breakfast of rice and eggs. She shoveled down the meal quickly, as she was almost constantly hungry, while Itachi calmly ate his own at a normal, or almost slow, pace, wiping his already clean face with a napkin when he finished.

Sakura was already standing at the sink, washing dishes. Seeing he was done, Sakura took his plate for him, and protested when he stood to help her, as she did every time. He took the duty of cooking, since he was infinitely better than she was, and so, feeling guilty for it, Sakura had self-proclaimed herself in charge of cleaning up afterwards. Every day though, he would finish eating, then help her do the dishes, no matter how much she complained. He always got his way, after all.

Itachi understood her reasoning, but found it ridiculous. He _wanted _to help her, even felt bad when watching her stand at the sink, cleaning whatever he had used to cook.

It was just as Sakura sat down on the couch that someone knocked on the door. "I'll get it," she muttered, making to stand, when he gently pushed her back down, replying with a simple, "Nope."

Sakura huffed, not liking the feeling that she was being treated like an invalid, but did not argue, watching as Itachi opened the door. Not that either of them were all that surprised, but it was a particularly eager Naruto standing on the other side, anxious to get going.

"Come on, Sakura-chan! Today is when Sasuke-teme gets out!" He shouted excitedly, his volume grating on both Sakura and Itachi's ears. Itachi was sorely tempted to shut the door, and leave it like that, but that would not please Sakura, and she was a force to be wary of, when angered.

Sakura glanced at the clock hanging on her wall, groaning to herself when seeing it was nearly ten. "Naruto, he is not getting out until noon, and we have something to do first. Itachi and I will meet you there." She told him, her voice unwavering, and meant to be taken seriously.

"But, Sakura-chan, Teme is going to be free! Why are you not excited?" Naruto whined, again making Itachi want to slam the door in his face. He restrained herself, a frown and glare setting in instead. The boisterous shinobi was certainly a test for his patience.

"I have other things to be excited for. We will meet you there." She repeated, hinting that he should leave. Naruto, however, did not seem to get what she wanted of him. He began to open his mouth again, when Itachi interrupted, speaking for the first time.

"Uzumaki, Sakura and I have somewhere we need to be very soon, so it would be appreciated if you let us prepare for that." He said with a terrifying calmness, one that Naruto could not refuse. He nodded his head, gave a look to Sakura that clearly said her lover was too scary, and then he shut the door for them.

Itachi sighed then grabbed Sakura's sandals for her from the shelf, taking down his own pair. As much as he preferred her to relax more, they were due at the hospital in not long, and so it was time they left. She stood from the couch, putting on her blue sandals. She liked her boots better, but she could not wear those, since she was wearing Itachi's sweatpants. Switching off whatever lights were on, she followed Itachi out of the door, locking it as she went.

Shizune did not keep them waiting for very long, and so immediately after arriving, they were led into a cozy office with dimmed lights, where Sakura was laid down. She was surprised to see that the necessary equipment was already hooked up.

Shizune had Sakura lift her shirt, then smoothed a cool gel over the skin of her abdomen. Itachi sat in the chair next to where Sakura lay, watching as Shizune double checked the ultrasound device, then placed the sensor on her bared stomach. The screen flickered to life, and Sakura's hand reached for his. He laced his fingers with hers, then watched as Shizune searched the inside of Sakura's womb for the fetus.

Itachi sucked in quickly at what he saw when it showed up on the black and white screen. It was different from all the times he had seen it through his sharingan, all of those times, he had only seen the chakra flowing. There had been no definite form, only pure energy, but now he could see how far their child had developed. Sakura lightly squeezed his hand, keeping her eyes on the screen, just as mesmerized as he was by it.

"How long until we can tell the gender?" He asked softly, utterly in awe by what he saw. Shizune smiled at the unlikely couple, pleased that at least Sakura had managed to find someone worthwhile, before answering.

"Normally, the genitals do not start to form until the twelfth week, at the latest. It should be very soon, Uchiha-san."

He did not say anything to this, but instead turned back to the moving picture. Sakura, naturally, did not have any questions to ask that she did not already know, as she was knowledgeable in pregnancy, like any other medic. A smile was stuck on her face, and Itachi was pleased to see how happy the entire situation was making her. He wanted her to be happy in carrying his child.

Sakura wondered if she was patient to wait a few weeks to figure out whether it was a boy or girl, even if she did not care which their child ended up being. She would be perfectly happy with having a boy or girl, she was just anxious to find out which. She turned to look at Itachi, in turn curious if he preferred a boy or a girl. She imagined that he would want a boy, and he could become the next heir, but she never could tell with him.

The appointment ended soon after, and as they left the hospital hand in hand, Sakura had to ask. "All right, Itachi, which do you want, a daughter or son?"

Itachi lifted her hand to kiss it, then let them hang loosely again. He honestly was not sure if he wanted his first child to be a son or daughter. Perhaps a girl would be better, since boys always had a tendency to wreak havoc at a young age, him being the only exemption. Better to start Sakura off with something easy, because he had every intention in having _several_ children with her.

"Does it matter? In the end, the baby will be whatever he or she is meant to be, regardless of what I wish." He said. She knew he was right, but that did not change the fact that she wanted to know.

"Nonetheless, I want to know. Maybe, if I think about it enough, by the laws of attraction, we can choose ourselves." Sakura teased, giving him a small smirk. He chuckled at her theory, rolling his eyes playfully.

"I would rather have a daughter first," was his thoughtful reply. She looked at him curiously, then realizing he had said _first. _Meaning he would want more than one child. Why this thought had not crossed her mind before, she had no idea. Of course he would want to have multiple children; after killing off the Uchiha clan, he wanted to rebuild it. The thing that crossed her mind first was if he would decide he needed more than one woman to bring the Uchiha back from the bottom. Surely not, she hoped, her face dropping.

"This troubles you." He stated, seeing how her expression dropped sadly. Did she object to bearing more than one child with him? She stopped in her tracks at his statement, not denying it, and meeting his eyes.

"Would you want more than one woman to accomplish this?" She asked softly. He froze, having never even considered another woman to help him rebuild the clan. That could never be what he wished; Sakura was the only woman he would ever want to bear his children.

"No, I would not. I did not even consider it. Why would you think that?" He asked quietly, almost dreading whatever she was going to say. At first she did not answer, instead looking around the surrounding area, which was filled with civilians and shinobi alike. Not wanting to make a scene, she pulled him into a nearby park, then sat them both at a bench.

Taking in an unsteady breath, she knew what she needed to tell him. Ino had pointed this out to her the night they made up, and it was time she brought it up with Itachi as well. "I was afraid that you would not feel the same way as I do, and I was not sure if you would even want more children, because ours was not intentional. Before we met, you had planned in letting Sasuke kill you. I did not know what to think."

Itachi did not seem to completely understand what she was telling him, but she had kept it vague, because she wanted him to ask, not for her to just tell him. "How exactly do you feel for me, Sakura?" Itachi asked softly, not liking how she seemed to be on the brink of tears. She gave a shaky sigh.

"Itachi, I am in love with you." She whispered, turning her head to conceal the fact that she was crying. He was stunned by her proclamation, to be sure, but there was some sort of warmth that was spreading all throughout his body at what she had just confessed to him. The only thing that displeased him was that she looked ashamed of herself for her feelings.

With some trepidation, he slipped an arm about her, carefully bringing her closer to him, until he had Sakura in a full embrace. He breathed in her pink hair, leaning his cheek onto the soft locks. "Sakura, do you honestly believe that I would ever want to have children with a woman I did not have feelings for? Yes, this child was not brought about purposefully, but that is no indication to how I feel for you."

She choked softly at this, before questioning, "And how do _you _feel for me, Itachi?"

Again, warmth surged through him, and the words spewed out almost too easily. "Sakura, I find myself to be in the same situation as you, very much in love."

She cried out at this, much to Itachi's shock, but then she practically jumped at him in joy. If Itachi had actually _said _he loved her, then he was much more serious than she ever could have hoped. Sakura knew how much difficulty he had when confessing any sort of emotion, yet he had said it so easily. Like it was natural to him.

"Sakura, I want you to move into the compound with me, when it is renovated." Itachi whispered, and she wordlessly nodded her head, unable to stop her cries. She could not believe how happy she was. Everything felt warm, and she wanted that feeling to last forever.

"You should not be crying." He murmured, clutching her back just as tightly as she was, listening as she quietly laughed, as if to agree. The tears stopped, and her sniffling ended shortly after, replaced by happy giggling. There it was, that sweet sound he loved to hear from her.

He chuckled at this, kissing the crown of her head. "Good. Now that is settled, we have a visit to make to the prison hold. If we wait any longer, Uzumaki will become irritated with us for being late." Itachi told her. She nodded her head, her grip loosening. Sakura searched blindly for his hand, then once gotten it, she stood with him.

"I wonder what Sasuke will do. He was the one who was always planning to grow the Uchiha clan again." Sakura said lightly, swinging their arms childishly. He did not mind this though, and even liked her immaturity, when she showed it. It was adorable.

"I wonder. Would your Yamanaka friend be interested?" He muttered to himself. Sakura laughed, ignoring the imploring glances people gave them as they walked along the path, heading straight to the center of Konoha.

"There is a funny story to that, you know." Sakura told him, a blush teasing at her cheeks. Itachi looked at her, his eyes being enough for he to know he wanted to know what she had to say. "Ino and I have know each other since we were six, and we were the closest of friends, even then. Unfortunately, when we were around eight, we had a falling out, and it lasted for several years."

Itachi's eyes widened in disbelief. He had seen the two girls together, and no one would have ever thought they had any problems with each other. Sure, they like to tease each other, and often times would argue playfully, but there was no reason for anyone to think they ever had true problems with one another.

"Ino found out I had a crush on Sasuke. I decided that, since we both liked him, that we had become rivals. We used to fight over everything after that; who was prettier, who had the best grades, who was better in taijutsu and ninjutsu. It only ended when Sasuke left Konoha, and we realized we were being children, even if we were already full-fledged kunoichi. Since then, nothing has become between us."

Itachi had known about Sakura's previous feelings for Sasuke, but he had not known they went to that extent, that she would give up friendship for it. She was right about one thing, it was childish, and she had been young, but he felt the twinge of jealousy at this knowledge. He had to remind himself of what she had just confessed to him, and that she did not take it lightly.

"Does she still feel that way for Sasuke?" He asked finally, as they entered the prison holding area. He nodded at the ANBU guards who stood at the entrance, and they were emitted without any problems.

"We have not talked about Sasuke like that in years, so I doubt it." She shrugged, following closely behind Itachi as he led her downstairs. They reached the last door, and with the key he had been given by Tsunade for this occasion, Itachi unlocked the door. Sasuke had been locked up for two months, but his appearance was not as ragged as Sakura had expected.

He was no longer chained to the wall, but was lazing on the cot he had been given, his arms behind his head in utter relaxation. His eyes flashed to see Sakura and his brother, and he slowly sat up. Time had gone past very quickly, and it had given him privacy to think about everything. He still wanted to help rebuild his clan, though he now needed to find someone to do this with, as Sakura was clearly taken.

Naruto could be heard from down the hall, he was yelling excited because of Sasuke's new freedom, and irritating the inmates who's cells lined the hallway. Sakura rolled her eyes, unsurprised when he dashed into the room and jumped at Sasuke.

"Teme! Guess what! You can go home now!" He said, hugging his friend. Sasuke frowned, having expected Naruto to do this, but not liking it any more. He swore under his breath. He was secretly glad to see Naruto again, but he did not want _hugs_.

"Let go of me, Dobe. And stop calling me that." He grumbled, an embarrassed flush showing on his cheeks. Sakura laughed, and Itachi could not help but to join in snickering at his younger brother's expense.

"Come on! I cannot wait for you to meet Hinata-chan!" He shrilled.

"I already know Hinata, Dobe. Stop yelling for once." Sasuke muttered back, clearly annoyed.

"Tsunade has told me you still have an apartment in your name, Sasuke. Until the Uchiha compound is renovated completely, you are to stay there." Itachi said over the bickering duo, though amused by their antics, and instantly reminded of Shisui.

"Sure, whatever. How about we just leave already. I have had enough of this stupid cell." Sasuke replied gruffly.

"Good! Now come with me, so we can see Hinata-chan!" Naruto said excitedly, dragging Sasuke out of the cell. Itachi sighed, and still holding Sakura's hand firmly in his own, they followed after them.

**AN: I was sick from school, so I was able to write this whole chapter in one day. Whether this is a good thing or not, I have no idea. ^^' Please review!**


	12. Chapter 12

"Konan. This has been going on for long enough. Akatsuki needs to mobilize." Pein commanded. It had been three and a half months since Itachi had defected from the organization, and he still was not going to give up on the Uchiha. He needed to be put in his place, and he was tired of waiting. It was proving to be impossible to keep all the Akatsuki members in the base, and so they were going to proceed with whoever was still around.

"Yes, Pein-sama." Konan softly replied. She could not disobey him yet, but when the time came, if it was necessary, she would personally put a stop to his nefarious plan. Though she was not certain what the Uchiha's reasons were for leaving, besides that they were personal, she did not believe that they had any right to prevent him from doing so. They were an organization, not a band of slaves under Pein's demand. He had every right to leave, in her opinion.

Knowing what he was waiting for, Konan quietly left the office, going off to pull together whatever Akatsuki members she could find in the headquarters. She could only hope that someone else would see the situation as she did, and be willing to help. Konan was not going to delude herself into thinking she was capable of stopping Pein herself. He was going too far though, and because he was no longer the man she had fallen in love with, he needed to be halted.

As it turned out, Kakuzu was not in the base just then, as well as Tobi and Zetsu. It was relieving that so many members were out on leave, and so she rounded up Kisame, Deidara, and Hidan, bringing them abruptly to Pein's office for his further instruction. Though she was not certain, Konan hoped that Kisame would side with her; perhaps not for Pein's sake, but for that of his partner's. No matter how distrustful any missing-nin was, an unmistakable bond was always created after spending some amount of time together.

The reasons for his assistance did not pertain to her, as long as he was willing to give it. With a decade's worth of battles Kisame had spent with Itachi, she was highly optimistic that he would.

The five of them stood before their fearless leader, awaiting instruction. Pein stood, his eight other identities backing him up. "Tonight, we will make way to Konoha. Uchiha Itachi will learn what happens when a member tries to leave Akatsuki. Prepare yourselves."

Everyone nodded their heads in agreement, Hidan especially excited to draw blood, and Deidara silently looking forward to blowing Konoha in the sky, merely because it was where Itachi had originally hailed from. He hoped he would get another chance to face off with the Uchiha, after his utter defeat years previous, when he had been brought to Akatsuki to be Sasori's partner.

Konan sighed sadly to herself, not at all looking forward to what she was going to have to do.

Sakura sat on the kitchen countertop, silently watching as Itachi cooked dinner, and Sasuke sipping at a mug of green tea at the kitchen table. Though the job was not entirely complete, the Uchiha main house was refurbished, and back to pristine condition. This is where she now sat, in her new home, with whom she considered to be her family.

It was unsurprising that it had only taken the brothers to fix up their old home in three days, and at that point, they were now halfway through cleaning and repairing the compound. After entering her second trimester, she had been given a new level of energy that the first had lacked, and Sakura had naturally, begged to help. Neither Sasuke nor Itachi had allowed it though, saying the structures were unsound, and that it could be dangerous. For some reason, because she was pregnant, they seemed to forget she was a perfectly capable kunoichi.

She smiled anyway though, resting a dainty hand on her rounding stomach. Though people had not been able to tell at first, it was now quite obvious she was with child, and with the way Itachi was constantly protecting her, it was not hard to guess who the father was. Sakura never denied it, and was proud to say that she was carrying Itachi's child.

It still made her want to laugh when she remembered how Itachi had practically dragged her back to the hospital for her ultrasound at her twelve-week mark. He may not have showed much of his excitement before, but it had been very apparent that day.

"_Congratulations, Sakura is expecting a baby girl." Shizune said happily, turning from the screen to look at the couple. She was not sure why it had been so surprising, but Uchiha Itachi smiled brightly at this set of news. Sakura squealed at this, then grabbed him by the neck and pulled him down for a kiss. _

_He reciprocated with pleasure, latching a strong hand behind her neck and unable to keep back the smile that was breaking through his emotionless facade. Shizune giggled nervously at their choice of action when hearing the news, and quietly slipped from the room to give them privacy._

"_I told you the laws of attraction would work. Oh, Itachi, it is a girl! I cannot wait to put her into little dresses and put bows in her hair!" She said quickly, after the short, but passionate kiss. He chuckled, kissing her cheeks and nose as if to agree, then turned to look back at the black and white screen. It was easy to tell just from a glance which gender their child was, even if he had no medical experience._

"_Yes, it seems you were right, Sakura." He replied softly, his voice laced with love and care, and he did not even turn from the view of his growing daughter. It was such a strange thought, that he was becoming a father. Though he would never tell this to Sakura, he had been almost scared in the beginning. He had killed his entire family, and it did not feel right that he would be having his own._

_On top of that, there were certain things he was not sure he would be able to explain to his children when they became old enough. Itachi had honestly been worried that they would hate him because of the massacre, and he never wanted that. He had spent most of his childhood at odds with his own father, and he did not want it to be the same with his children._

"_Of course I was right. The pregnant one in always right." She replied jokingly. His eyebrows raised, and then he turned his attention back to her, quickly pulling her into another kiss, one that was much less innocent, and much more mind-boggling. _

Yes, it was very entertaining to think about what had happened that day. Sakura had never seen Itachi so happy before that day, and it was pleasing that she had been the one to cause such an anomaly. She hummed softly, as she always did when rubbing her abdomen, smiling down at the developing fetus in her womb.

Itachi glanced up from the stir fry to watch her do this, and was filled with warmth at the sight. He often did this, observe Sakura as she entered her own world, humming off-tune to their child and caressing the development. It made him so satisfied, that he had, initially, caused this to happen, when he had made love to Sakura in the back of that bar. It was ironic that something that was intended to be only for relief had turned into something so much more.

"Hey, Itachi, what do you think we should name baby-chan?" She asked, coming out of her musings. He thought for a moment, not really sure what would be a good girl's name. His opinion mattered though, so he gave it real contemplation before answering.

"Aiko." He answered thoughtfully. _Love child._ The name seemed to fit very well, in his opinion. She thought about it for a second, repeating the name back to herself while considering it, when a soft gasp slipped through her lips, and her hands froze at the strange, fluttering sensation.

Concern etched into Itachi's features, and he turned fully from the stir fry. She looked up from her stomach with wide eyes, meeting Itachi's in shock. His worry grew at this, and he quickly went to ask, "Sakura, is there something wrong? What happened?"

A smile then spread from cheek to cheek, and she giggled. "I just felt the baby."

This was the first time this had happened, no surprise there, as she was only just entering the twentieth week. Sasuke looked up from the table, leaving his ever consuming thoughts behind and glancing at them both. Itachi tentatively reached his hand forward, but then paused with uncertainty. Sakura took his hand for him, then gently laid it where she had felt the fluttering. Again, there was the foreign sensation, and this time, Itachi was the one to gasp to himself.

"I think she likes the name Aiko." Sakura murmured, her eyes softening measurably when the quivering occurred again. She agreed with Itachi, because it was a good name for their daughter. Their child had come from a frivolous night of unexpected lovemaking, that had only meant to be a one-night stand. Perhaps Sakura had already known this would happen though, and so she had refused to leave it that way. Their child was created out of love.

Sasuke stood, almost making to leave them to their privacy, when he looked back at them. Most times it was hard to see them together, and awkward at that, because he was still very much in love with Sakura. She had gotten over him though, and he saw how they were together. It was as if Itachi moved and breathed only to accommodate her. His brother needed Sakura, and definitely deserved her much more than he did.

When he looked at them again though, he could not help but to be curious. He stepped forward timidly, almost afraid to ask. "Can I feel too, Sakura?"

They both looked up at him in surprise, but then an understanding smile showed on both of their faces. This was the first time Sasuke had moved to involve himself with anything besides rebuilding the compound, and it was a big step for him. Sakura nodded her head at his request, and they both watched as he cautiously moved towards them.

She took his hand with no hesitation, pulling it to the quivering spot. When Sasuke felt the subtle movement, it suddenly struck him. He was going to be an uncle. His clan was being brought up again, and he needed to stop focussing on the past, and how he felt for Sakura. After all, he could not let his older brother top him this time; Sasuke would have _way _more children than Itachi ever did. A small smirk crossed his face, then he looked up from his hand.

"Surely you are not planing to have only one child, aniki." He said smugly. Itachi and Sakura exchanged glances, the latter blushing briefly, and the former smirking mischievously. They had spoken about it before, clearly.

"Of course not, ototo." Itachi replied, watching with amusement as Sakura's face turned even more red at how the conversation was turning. The way Itachi had said it made her feel anxious, but not necessarily in a bad way. She was well prepared to conceive multiple children with Itachi, and not merely because of the activities that took place to cause the pregnancy.

"Well, I am going to have more than you are."

Itachi snorted. "We have a head start, ototo. You do not even have a woman, as far as I am aware. How are you planning to do that?" He asked tauntingly, his eye narrowing at the feeling of an oncoming competition. Sasuke frowned for a second.

"That will not stop me. I will beat you, aniki."

"I highly doubt it, Sakura and I-

"Enough you two! Women are not baby-machines. I will have no part of this stupid game, and I have no intention in getting pregnant until Aiko-chan is at least one years old." Sakura interrupted with a huff of embarrassment. She then gave Itachi a stern, yet somehow playful glance.

"Now go finish making dinner before it burns, mister master chef." Itachi rolled his eyes, exhaling at the nickname his mother had once given him, when discovering his affinity in cooking. Now Sakura took to calling him that whenever she was teasing him, but he did not mind so much. It was entertaining, because whenever she did call him that, he often times retorted with his own endearment, most of which he knew would irritate her.

Sasuke hopped onto the counter next to Sakura, and they both watched as Itachi worked. "Where did that even come from? I am sure I have heard you called that before." Sasuke commented. Itachi frowned, but supposed it could not hurt to tell the story again, even if Sakura ended up laughing at him again.

"Okaa-san taught me how to cook not long after I entered ANBU, so I could make my own meals. She found I was quite _talented _in it, as she liked to say, and used to say that I could become a famous chef, should my shinobi career fail one day. It was her that originally came up with the nickname." He muttered, staring at the stir fry with determination. Sakura giggled as he thought she would, while Sasuke silently mulled this over. Then, he quietly chuckled to himself.

Itachi scowled at nothingin particular, not liking the fact that they were laughing at his expense. "Be good, ototo, or I will bring your baby pictures out of hiding." Itachi threatened softly. Sasuke seemed to freeze at this, but then retorted immediately.

"Then I will bring out your baby pictures too."

Itachi's head swerved around in disbelief. "You were the one who hid them? I had been so determined to destroy those awful things." He said in shock, his stir fry forgotten.

"No, Shisui was the one to hide them, but he told me where they are." He replied haughtily, crossing his arms over his chest. Itachi blanched, his eyes widening in horror. He knew, just from Sasuke's dangerous look, that he was going to bring them out.

"Not if I get yours first." He whispered, disappearing with a flash. Sasuke paled, then dashed off as well. Sakura laughed first, but then realized that she had been left alone in the kitchen. With food cooking. That was just looking for a disaster to happen. She sighed, then slipped off the counter, pulling the wok from the range.

The brothers both appeared at the same moment, each carrying a box labeled accordingly to their contents. They both set them down at the table, then instantaneously jumped at each other, landing and then wrestling on the floor. Sakura ignored them, quickly taking the opportunity to open the boxes. They ceased when the laughter erupted.

"You two were so _cute _as kids!" She squealed, flipping through the photos, until she found a comical picture of Itachi laying on a changing table, his father struggling to change his diaper as he resisted. She had to clutch her split sides for her laughter. Sasuke snuck a peek as well, chuckling along side her. Itachi massaged the bridge of his nose in distress, not liking the situation at all.

He reached across the table and snatched it, but she only reached into the box to grab another one, this one being of Itachi pouting, one of his arms stuck in his high collar after he had tried to dress himself alone. This too was stolen from a very embarrassed Itachi, but she grabbed another one, with him sitting in a bathtub, nearly completely covered with bubbles. Disgruntled, he ignored Sasuke's dark chuckles, and took the entire box. Instead, he pushed forward the box of Sasuke's baby pictures.

Before Sasuke could prevent it, she reached in, pulling out whatever was on top. It was of a newborn Sasuke in a woman's arms as she lay limply in a hospital bed. She gasped softly. "Your mother was beautiful." She said softly, squinting to get a better look at her facial features. "You have her eyes, Itachi." She added.

Itachi and Sasuke both leaned in next to her to look as well, looking at their mother's face. They simultaneously became sober, and seeing their straight faces, Sakura gave them each a kiss to the cheek. Then, much to their joint displeasure, she dumped both boxes on the table, before they had time to react.

This time, they did not resist too much, instead snickering at one another when Sakura picked out an unusually embarrassing photo. Giving up on getting the pictures away from Sakura, Itachi sighed, then finished their dinner. They ate carefully while sifting through the pictures.

It should have made sense that Sakura would not judge them based on their ridiculous pictures, and they knew that they should not have worried so much about it. After some urging, and seeing too many naked pictures of them both, Sakura went to retrieve her own baby snapshots.

No hesitation at all, Sakura dumped her own box on top of the already large pile, then sat between them again. The brothers quickly grabbed whatever was nearest in retaliation to earlier, and she did not make a fuss because of it. Itachi snorted, looking at the picture of a crying toddler Sakura, her hair knotted together after she had tried to put it up without her mother's assistance. Sasuke then full-out laughed, nearly dropping the picture he was holding.

Sakura curiously grabbed it, and with his laughter, Sasuke did not have enough strength to stop her. Itachi peered over her shoulder to get a look, and laughed softly as well. Sakura grimaced, letting the picture of her standing in a bathroom, her hair uneven and choppy, a pair of scissors in her hand.

"I used to hate my hair, okay. Everyone teased me." She grumbled, letting Itachi take it. He smirked, kissing her on the crown of her head teasingly.

"I think your hair is adorable. Did your mother fix it after finding you playing hairdresser?" He asked gently, running a hand through her pink locks, twirling a long finger around the bottom.

Her face dropped slightly, but she did not let it show. "Yes. Thank god my hair was long then, and so it could be cut to a reasonable length. I wanted to shave my head completely, and wear a wig instead." Sakura replied quietly. Her change of tone caught the attention of them both.

"What ever did happen to your parents, Sakura?" Sasuke asked curiously. If he remembered correctly, she had been living with them when he left, but upon his capture, she had been residing in an apartment. It did not make sense for her to move out, knowing how much she had cared for her family.

"They disowned me when I turned fifteen." She answered, her voice subdued. This clearly distressed her, and so Itachi slipped a hand around her hip carefully, hoping to comfort her. She let out a sad sigh, then continued.

"My parents were civilians, and did not understand why I remained a kunoichi, after both of my teammates left. Not long after I finished my training with Tsunade-shishou, they told me they needed help for my father to seal a business deal. It was a ruse though, so I would quit my kunoichi career." She murmured, their full attention and concern on her.

"My father had arranged for me to marry a pompous, disgusting, civilian man, who they both thought appropriate for me. After Sasuke left me, they decided I could not be trusted to find a proper spouse, and that I could not be with a shinobi. After meeting that man, I knew I could not go through with it. I told my parents that I refused to be the housewife to such an undeserving scum-bag. They declared I was no longer their daughter, no doubt out of anger, and I left the house that night, taking my things with me. I have not seen either of them since then."

Sasuke's face scrunched up in confusion. He had only met her parents once, and it had been very brief, but they had seemed like such nice people. He had been sent to her house to pick Sakura up for a mission, and when he had knocked on the door, her mother had invited him in. Their house had been clean and orderly, clearly civilian, but pleasant nonetheless. He would not have thought that they would be against shinobi at all, from how kind they had been to him. It had almost made him jealous, because she had parents, but he did not.

"You should patch things up with them, Sakura." Itachi told her softly, his arm squeezing lightly around her waist. She smiled up at him coyly, leaning against his side.

"I could never do that. Not alone, at least." She responded with a quiet exhale. Itachi knew what she was fishing for.

"I will accompany you, if you wish. Whatever the case, you should fix things with them. It has been years since then, and I am sure that they must miss you, and regret what they did."

"They will never accept you, Itachi. Are you certain that you want to face that?"

"I will go too." Sasuke interjected. "It is most likely my fault that they do not trust shinobi, and I should apologize for that."

Sakura smiled at them both. It would not matter too much if her parents did not accept her new life, though she supposed she should pay them the visit anyway. She was content with the family she had now, with Itachi and Sasuke. Whether that was how they saw it or not, she was not sure, but to her, they were family. Sitting together as they were, laughing alongside each other, and emotionally embracing one another, this was how she had always thought families should be.

"Thank you, guys. It might not be all _that _bad, if I have you with me." She said lightly, tilting her chin down to gaze at her expanding waistline, smoothing her hands over her clothes. Itachi openly nuzzled his nose into her neck, savoring the sounds of he giggles.

Their contentment was quickly cut short though, when an earthquake shook the entire structure. They all stilled instinctively, sharing glances. Sasuke was the first to dash out the front door, Sakura and Itachi behind only by a few seconds. With wide eyes, they stared at the crack seen in Konoha's barely visible barrier, then saw a small group of shinobi standing on the wall surrounding the village, black cloaks with red clouds flowing around them. Itachi swore under his breath.

A sense of dread washed over all three of them. At last, they had come to ruin their happiness. Akatsuki.

Alarms rang through the entire village, alerting shinobi that there was an invasion afoot, and frantic screams of women and children could be heard throughout. Itachi should have known this would happen, that they could never leave them alone.

Without any trouble sensing him, they instantly appeared in front of him, and Itachi did not have the time to get Sakura back into the house, and to safety.

Pein's voice rang out cold and cruel. "Interesting, Uchiha. I suppose that child is the personal reason you had for leaving us."

Shivers ran up and down Sakura's spine at his tone, and she felt her stomach flopped nervously. She knew that she had a very, very good reason to be perfectly terrified.

**AN: This was really fun to write! ^^ It was not anything that I had planned at first, but I'm glad I included it. It will help lead up to something I have planned in the future. Please review!**


	13. Chapter 13

Shock overwhelmed both Sakura and Itachi, neither of them having dreamed of Akatsuki being so desperate to get back their Sharingan wielder as to ambush Konoha. Pein's eyes seemed to gleam right into Sakura's womb, and as protective as ever, Itachi stepped in front of his lover. He did not like that the leader of Akatsuki knew of their child, but Itachi knew perfectly well how this could be rectified. Pein had to be defeated, or enemies would come flocking in to exploit his weaknesses.

Sakura shook with fear, her hands clutching her swollen stomach possessively. She did not like how the man with flaming orange hair was staring at her, and by the distressed fluttering of her child, Sakura knew that her daughter did not enjoy the sensation either. Unable to help it, she whimpered to herself, hugging her expanding abdomen as comfort.

"I wonder, Uchiha, what sort of child of yours this will be, with an Uchiha as a father, and the mother being apprentice to the Godaime. I am almost curious enough to let your little offspring live, but I cannot give you any distractions from your duties at Akatsuki now, can I?" Pein murmured thoughtfully, smirking to himself.

Itachi knew this was only said to aggravate him, and did not reply with anything other than a glare. He was not one to be riled up by petty taunting. There was no way he was letting anyone besides himself (and Sasuke perhaps as well) near his unborn daughter. No one was trustworthy, in his opinion. Sakura would tease him for his parental protectiveness, but he had a perfectly sane reason for his antics, and Akatsuki's appearance was proof enough.

Instead, he glanced momentarily away from Pein, and his eyes met with Kisame's. Itachi was not sure why, but with the way Kisame's lips seemed to be pulling downwards, he was left with the impression that his once-teammate did not want to be there, ruining his future with Sakura. His short meeting with Kisame after his escape out of Akatsuki suddenly replayed in his mind, and Itachi was reminded that Kisame honestly thought he had every right at happiness.

Seeing he had Itachi's attention, Kisame gave him a subtle smirk and wink, and Itachi was only left to guess that he was only there out of farce. He gave no response, but there was a silent understanding between them anyway.

Konan's blue eyebrows scrunched together in frustration and confusion. In complete earnest, the Uchiha should have every right to discharge from Akatsuki, with a child well on the way. Pein was being unjust, and this was nothing like what they had originally intended when forming their organization. The ends did not justify the means, and Itachi's membership was not necessary. He was impossible to replace, but they could continue without him easily.

When they decided to create Akatsuki, it had been to bring world peace, no matter how cliche it sounded. Now, however, Pein was becoming greedy. He was no longer satisfied with simply unifying the shinobi world, but now he had to be sure that he controlled it. It was not something she had ever agreed to, but she had no choice but to listen and do as she was told. Until today, that is.

Yes, today everything ended. She would kill Pein, and with him, her own heart.

Tsunade had been blissfully deep in an alcohol induced slumber when the alarms suddenly rang. She groaned angrily, too hung over to think straight, and opened her eyes just in time to see two ANBU operatives appear in a kneeling position before her desk. Whatever the problem was, she decided, it had better have been a good one, considering the fact that she had drank more than usual that afternoon.

"Hokage-sama, the Akatsuki have infiltrated the village." One of the masked shinobi said with utter worry, his trained calm facade slipping under stress. His words quickly sobered Tsunade, who sat up immediately after hearing this. Thoughts ran straight to Naruto, who would naturally be a target as the jinchuriki of the kyuubi.

"Where are they? How great are their numbers?" She quickly demanded, her headache already forgotten. The other ANBU, who had yet to say anything, sighed tiredly. It must have been really bad, Tsunade thought helplessly, at this simple puff of air. She jumped up anxiously, waiting for the word, her concern for the knuckle-headed, boisterous blond ninja overwhelming.

"We are still uncertain of their size, but they entered into the Uchiha compound." He breathed.

All thought of Naruto was forgotten in favor for her young, _pregnant _and vulnerable pupil, who she thought of more as a daughter than her own parental figures. Sure, she had the Uchiha brothers with her, but they were up against multiple Akatsuki members. They would be fighting, and have no real time to protect Sakura. Then there was the brothers themselves.

They were both equally silent and broody, which she did not like, and she wondered often how Sakura could put up with either of them, but she did not dislike them. They were hard people to get along with, socially retarded, as she preferred to think, but she did not want either of them to get hurt. Itachi may have had a pole up his ass, but he was amusing, as was Sasuke. Sakura would not be able to handle losing either of them, and such a loss could be dangerous to her pregnancy.

Sakura would be devastated by either of their deaths, and so it was inexcusable. Tsunade maneuvered around her desk, her black high-heels clicking on the tiled flooring with every step. Both ANBU watched cautiously as she cracked her knuckles threateningly, and followed her out of the small, sake-scented office.

"Pull together the specialist jonin, and any ANBU operative you can find. Akatsuki is going down tonight, no excuses." Tsunade said stiffly, not even acknowledging the chunin guards who had just saluted her as she left her office. The silent shinobi disappeared with this simple order, melting into the shadows to complete their task.

Shizune approached her from another corridor, confused by the alarms. "Tsunade-hime, what is happening?" She asked worriedly, holding an anxious and snorting Tonton in her arms, her heels clicking alongside the Hokage's. Tsunade huffed, then nibbled on her bottom lip, a sign of nervousness.

"Akatsuki has gotten into the village, and are in the Uchiha compound. I need you to prepare the hospital for collateral damage. Tell whatever genin or chunin you meet to evacuate civilians. This is not going to be a pretty battle, considering who we are dealing with." The Godaime replied ruefully, not pausing for a second with her steps. Shizune froze in terror, nearly dropping the pig in her arms. Of course, she knew what it meant, with Akatsuki in the Uchiha compound.

"Oh, god, _Sakura._" She whispered. Tsunade remained tight lipped, neither confirming nor denying Shizune's conclusion. The very thought was horrifying, that she could be facing multiple enemies will five months into her pregnancy. It was extremely dangerous, as any medic would know. It was true that if a miscarriage took place, it would be in the first trimester, which Sakura was long past, but pregnancy did not take into account the idea of extensive battles. Her body would not be prepared to fight.

"Go prepare the hospital, Shizune. ANBU and jonin are already being sent to Sakura." Tsunade finally said, turning a hall and leaving the horrified medic to her duties. Knowing that this was the only reassurance she would get, Shizune dashed to the hospital to warn medics on hand that they would not be in for an easy shift that night.

Naruto had been a date with Hinata when the alarms screamed across Konoha, warning of intruders. This was not, by farm their worst date, of course, he had thought grimly, remembering how on the first time they had gone out, he had accidentally spilt water all over her white shirt. How he had convinced her to go out with him again, Naruto had no idea.

"Where is it coming from?" He asked, turning his gaze from the hectic streets to his shy girlfriend. She quickly activated her Byakugan, and scoped the area. It did not take long for her to figure out where the intruders were, with her practiced skill. She gasped at seeing where the trespassers were.

"We need to go now, Naruto-kun." She mumbled anxiously, showing a rare bout of confidence by grabbing his wrist then tearing him out of Ichiraku. Naruto stumbled after the usually timid Hyuga, not fully understanding the situation. When he finally realized the direction they were headed in, Naruto instantly picked up speed, and ended up pulling Hinata along instead. She did not mind so much, and was rather glad he comprehended the need for urgency.

It was only just barely dark, twilight starting to fade into night as the sun's warmth disappeared out of the sky. When Naruto and Hinata got on scene, no one had yet to move, and were still in ridged, battle-ready stances. Sakura was safely behind Itachi and Sasuke, who were posed to attack when threatened. Naruto quickly joined them on the front line, while Hinata ran to Sakura.

"Sakura-chan, are you okay? What is going on?" Hinata asked nervously, checking with her Byakugan for any damage to the pink-haired kunoichi. She was relieved at seeing there was nothing wrong with her, but knew they were still far from safe, with half of Akatsuki not even twenty feet away. Sakura slowly rubbed her stomach, worry and fear found in ever subtle movement of her soft hands.

"She does not like them. _I_ do not like them either." Sakura whispered, more to herself than to her concerned friend. She lifted her gaze from her abdomen to Hinata. "They followed Itachi here. Akatsuki still wants him to be a member of their stupid club_. _They will never leave him alone, and now, they want our daughter killed." She cried, leaning on the shocked Hinata for support.

"More than just your daughter, I am afraid. I cannot allow for such a distraction for Itachi to be around such as you are, Haruno." Pein said with a humorous tone. This must have been too much for him to handle, because a moment later, Itachi had charged for the leader, a kunai already drawn. Pein smirked, taking his own kunai out to block the attack.

Itachi knew it had only been said to badger him, to force him into action, but it had worked, sadly enough. He hated the fact that he was so easy to bother, but this was Sakura. He could not let anyone with a potential threat near her, this madman least of all. Their child would be safe, and in four months from then, Sakura would give birth to a beautiful baby girl. Nothing would stop this from happening, not even the Akatsuki.

"You will not touch her, nor our daughter." Itachi seethed, jumping back as Pein made ready to attack after defending. The leader chuckled darkly to himself, shaking his head as he summoned a gruesome bird, its beak jagged and black peircings impaling its body. It flew up above the group for a moment, before diving down to earth, straight for Itachi.

He did not want to use it, especially not within the walls of Konoha, but Itachi had no other choice. After a short inner turmoil over the possible consequences of using his Mangekyo Sharingan, he knew that he had to use it. The tomoe of his Sharingan span dangerously, until three black blades formed. Blood dripped slowly from his eyes, and before the bird reached him, black flames from hell consumed the creature.

Pein frowned, remembering something similar to have happened in their previous fight. Surely the Uchiha was smart enough to not pull out his Tsukiyomi again. The Uchiha was not nearly strong enough to defeat him, of that, Pein was certain.

Sakura looked at Itachi with wide-eyes and horror. She was well aware of Itachi using the Mangekyo Sharingan, and Sakura had heard the awful terrors it could create, but she had no idea how much damage it could cause on the wielder. He was bleeding from his eyes, something that did not make her feel comfortable. Why had she never thought much of it before? If this amount of damage took place after one use, than permanent damage could be very extensive. For all she knew, he could be going blind. He knew she was a medic, so why had he never said anything to her?

"Itachi..." Sakura whispered worriedly, wanting nothing more but to reach for him, to pull him from that battle; away from the horrid Akatsuki and into the warmth and safety of their home. She could not do that now, though. Itachi had to cut his ties with the organization, once and for all, and the only way he could do that is if he extinguished the problem himself.

"Do not worry about me, Sakura." He murmured back, not turning from the dreaded Akatsuki leader. Her eyebrows knit together, and her lower lip trembled in fear, not for herself, but more for her lover. She was going to worry about him, no doubt of it, and no matter what he said, she was going to keep stressing over his safety until he was back in her arms again.

"I know, Itachi." She replied softly, then turning to a wary Hinata. "Hinata, do you think you can help me out of here?" She questioned almost silently. Sakura had said it low enough for only the anxious Hyuga to hear, but perhaps the leader's sense of hearing what much better than she had anticipated. Hinata wrapped a secure arm about Sakura's waist, starting to tear her away from the battle scene.

Pein would not have it; Haruno Sakura was a necessary bargaining chip, which he was not going to allow to escape. "Konan." He barked. The kunoichi knew immediately what was expected of her, and jumped into action, as Pein wished of her. The two Konoha kunoichi had only managed to get a few feet farther away before Konan appeared behind their retreating figures.

She slipped an arm around each of theirs necks, holding them in place. Pein did not know it, but he had just helped her in her cause. The two kunoichi struggled at first, not willing to admit defeat, when she spoke lowly to them both. "No harm will come to Itachi and your child, Haruno Sakura. I am going to help you."

Sakura's eyes thinned in anger, not believing what the solitary Akatsuki kunoichi was saying, and instead thrashed about with more determination to escape. Itachi glanced back at them in fury, only pausing when he saw the look Konan gave him. She meant no harm. "Like hell am I going to believe-

"Please, be more discrete. I sympathize with your situation, and despite the colors I wear, I am not evil." Konan interjected calmly so that Pein could not hear her. Sakura froze then, realizing that the fetus was perfectly content, even if she was supposedly being held hostage. If that was any indication, then perhaps the kunoichi was speaking the truth. No threatening chakra was emitting from her person.

"Then what do you plan to do? The way things look now, Itachi is far from out of danger." Sakura whispered, glancing suspiciously at the blue-haired woman.

"Pein is no longer who he once used to be, and I cannot allow him to continue down this self-destructive path. Ever since this entire situation came about, I decided that he needs to be stopped. Unfortunately, there is only one way I can do that, and I am not even sure I am capable of it."

Both Sakura and Hinata looked at her in confusion. This woman was Akatsuki, and if that were not merit enough, she was partnered with Pein as it were. She should have been fully knowledgeable of his weaknesses, of how to 'stop' him. From what they could tell, this Konan felt much more than platonic for the man. As lovers, if that was what they were, she should have known everything about him.

"He has to die by my hand." Konan whispered sadly. They both stared at her in shock, surprised that she would even consider killing her own leader and lover. It was insane... it was _Akatsuki_.

"I have watched Itachi grow up from the age of thirteen, and I know that he is not truly a criminal. If he were, he would not be so considerate. I am not sure what happened to him, but that man has been tortured, by both his past and the crimes he has since committed for Akatsuki's sake. Itachi deserves some amount of happiness, and I can already tell that he has found it here, with you Haruno. It is natural for him, after all he has been through, to covet such a thing, and so he has worked to get that happiness, and has defected from our organization.

"This may not make any sense to you, coming from an S-class criminal, but I really only want what is best for Itachi. Everyone in Akatsuki joined for a reason, and he lied when he said it was for convenience. We are all individual, yet a part of one whole, but he never was included, and I know it had been intentional. I watched him carefully, and whatever he had done, it had been for his brother. He was not evil, but for some reason, he wanted to look as if her were, for Sasuke-kun.

"What is best for him is not in Akatsuki, but in this village. He needs the love of a family, because no matter how lonely his younger brother was, Itachi was always more alone. It was self-inflicted, and he may not even realize that, but being here is healing his intangible injuries. With time, and a growing family, I know he can recover from his past."

Sakura processed this, and agreed with Konan. Konoha was healing Itachi, and he needed love more than anyone else. She was perfectly able and willing to give him this, but that could only be possible if they survived the entanglement they found themselves in. Still, it made her uncomfortable to think that this woman seemed to care so much for Itachi's well being. "Why do you care so much for Itachi?"

Konan smiled wistfully. "Pein and I, along with our deceased friend, Yahiko, all lost our own families at a very young age to war. We did not have anyone, besides each other. When Akatsuki finally was organized, we became a sort of dysfunctional family. Itachi was our youngest member, and I saw him as a younger brother, though he never saw me as his older sister. I had been seventeen when I first met him, and though he would mostly ignore it, I used to tease him.

"He was so stuck-up for someone only thirteen, and I guess I could not help it." Konan paused to snort to herself. "I still have blackmail photos of him somewhere. Perhaps I can send you copies when this is over." She muttered. Sakura giggled softly to herself, trying to imagine what could possibly be used as blackmail against someone like Itachi.

"I think you will have to. I am certain Itachi would just _love _for me to get something so precious from his ane-ue. We can have an exchange, if you want." Sakura offered back, believing herself to have just founded a beautiful friendship.

"I doubt you can have anything worse than what I-

"Four year old Itachi drowning in his bubble bath." Sakura interrupted with a sly smirk. Konan assessed her thoughtfully, considering how embarrassing her pictures were, then shook her head.

"You are good, I give you that much, but I am afraid I can trump that. Imagine a fourteen year old Itachi with french-braids and pink ribbons in his hair. Of course, he does not know I still have that, since its been more than seven years since that little incident." She replied airily.

Hinata watched and listened to this play out, and was not entirely sure what to think of it. In the end, she decided to tune out the two strange kunoichi and turned to the fight. Naruto had, predictably enough, just knocked Deidara out for the count, and had turned to Kisame. She noticed, only barely so, when the shark-man sent Itachi, when was in a heavy doujutsu battle with Pein, a glance, as if asking what he should do.

Not making sense of this, she watched as Itachi gave him a subtle look in return, that Kisame easily interpreted. Hinata still did not understand what was going on, so she turned back to the pair of muttering and chuckling kunoichi. "Kunoichi-san, how close is Hoshigaki Kisame to Uchiha-san?" She asked softly, breaking them out of their mutual amusement. It was as if they were suddenly reminded that their lovers were in an epic battle with each other.

"Kisame is, deep inside, as harmful as a little kitten. I have already spoken to him about what I plan to do, and he is on Itachi's side. I think he sees Itachi as family as much as I do," Konan turned from the flustered Hyuga to look at the shark of a man, startled by what she saw, "and your boyfriend is about to whip his ass." She finished with irritation, displeased with the situation.

She knew it was now time to commence with her plan. Sure that Pein was not looking at her, she let go of the two Konoha kunoichi, then started to fly through a short series of hand seals. Sakura watched in a sort of awe as Konan's origami rose lifted from her blue hair, unfolding itself, and then tucking itself into a little butterfly. With perfect concentration, she sent the paper butterfly to Naruto, and then landing it on his shoulder.

_Do not be alarmed by what you are about to hear, _was the first thing Naruto heard in his head, and he froze in shock. It was a calm, feminine voice he had never heard before, and his first instinct was to look around to see who the mystery person was. His eyes flashed around to Konan, who was standing next to both Hinata and Sakura. His important people. Anger instantly rose, until he met her gaze.

_Yes, I am Akatsuki. Despite that, I ask that you trust me enough to listen to what I say. Neither Hoshigaki Kisame nor myself are your enemies. We are here to help Itachi, and as you are clearly on his side, you as well. No harm will come to Haruno Sakura or Hyuga Hinata._

The voice was silent for a second, waiting to gage his reaction, when he subtly changed his battle stance. It was obvious that he took her seriously. She smiled to herself.

_I have a plan, and I need your help to complete it. There are six paths of Pein, as you can so clearly see, but they are no more than dolls under his control. They have shared vision, and can see the same things as each other. They are all controlled by someone out of the picture, whom I have decided to defeat myself. I need you to prevent the six paths from chasing after me. Fight them with Itachi, as well as Hidan. _

_After today, Akatsuki will be entirely disbanded, and you have no need to fear. I apologize for what we have done to you for the past several years, and I hope you do not take it personally. The only way I can think of to rectify this is to cut off the problem at its source, which I beg your help to do._

Naruto shared a look with Kisame, who could guess what was happening, and smirked faintly. He nodded to Konan, then jumped to where Itachi was standing, Kisame shortly behind. With wide eyes, Itachi looked at them both, clearly not understanding what was happening. The paper butterfly took off from Naruto's shoulder, then fluttered to rest on Itachi's.

_Hello, ototo._

Itachi's head snapped around to where Konan stood, shock written on his face.

_I am on your side. I have already given Naruto-kun instructions to assist you, if that makes any sense to you. I need you to distract them, while I take care of their controller. I am killing Nagato._

He observed her sad, reproachful expression, and knew how much this _Nagato_ meant to her. Itachi nodded, then with an almost non-perceivable glance, asked her why she was helping.

_Just as Haruno Sakura and Sasuke are family to you, you are family to me, Itachi-kun. Jiraiya-sensei taught me to protect my important people, and you are one of those. You are going to live through this, have lots of little, angsty Uchiha-babies with this woman, and then die of old age with a smile on your face. As cliche as it sounds, I love you, ototo. Not in a romantic way, so do not get any stupid ideas._

Itachi frowned to himself, then gave her a sympathetic look. She loved Nagato.

_Yes, I loved him. He is changed though, not the man I grew up with, and he must be stopped. I am doing this for him as much as I am doing it for you._

Itachi sighed, then turned back to his fight. Konan took this as agreement, and with a quick thank-you, returned her butterfly to her hair, shifting it back into a rose in midair. Her plan official started, she dashed from Sakura and Hinata, running past her fellow Akatsuki members, and continuing onward.

"Konan!" She heard Pein shout after her angrily, but she did not so much as pause.

"I am sorry, Teishu." She whispered only just loud enough for him to hear, before disappearing over the wall surrounding the Uchiha compound. One of the six paths made to follow her, but Kisame stepped in front of him, stopping him before he could make chase. Two more did the same, and unfortunately, one of them managed to get past Kisame. They could only hope she was speedy enough to defeat Nagato before anything happened.

Pein growled, watching through his cohort's eyes as Konan fled to his true body. He knew instantly what her intentions were, and he was most displeased. In retaliation to her betraying actions, he slid a long, black blade out from inside his cloak.

Before anyone could so much as move, he appeared behind Sakura, and pressed the blade to her fragile and exposed neck.

"I will not lose, Uchiha." He whispered in fury, watching in cruel pleasure as Itachi looked on in horror.

**AN: MWAHAHAHA! I am soo evil! I left you with a cliffy! ^^**

**I know I said I would be going on hold for a while, but I could not help it. This needed to get out of my system. I will, due to unfortunate circumstances, not be able to update regularly, this story as well as my other fics, but I will strive to get something out. Please do not throw your keyboards at the screen in anger. Review instead.**


	14. Chapter 14

Itachi's eyes thinned in recognizable anger. He did not blame Konan for this occurrence, but he was furious none the less. If that mentally disturbed, half-brained _bastard _thought he could so much as lay a finger on her head, then he was in for something else. Itachi wanted to kill him, to tear out his intestines and choke him with them. He wanted to dig those damned rin'negan out of his eyeball sockets and then shove them down his throat. He wanted to pull each and every one of those obscure piercings, and then watch him slowly bleed to death. Never had Itachi ever felt this way before.

Sakura kept herself utterly still, trying to hold back her tears, but unable to suppress the feeling of terror. The fetus must have sensed her distress, because an anxious series of flops fluttered in her womb. Her fingers twitched, aching to touch and sooth her child, but fearful of what the consequences for doing so could be. Instead, she gave Itachi a terrified look. Itachi instantly reacted.

He was not sure how it happened; how he was suddenly able to move so inhumanly quick, but he did. It must have been too fast for Pein, because the leader did not, or perhaps was not able to, stop him. Without a second thought, without a moment of hesitation, Itachi pulled the black blade from her throat, driving it through Pein's.

Pein's eyes widened in shock, and he spat up blood, watching Itachi's crazed expression. Never had he seen the Uchiha so determined, so blood thirsty, in all of his years in Akatsuki. Much to everyone's shock, Itachi spun that blade around, cleanly cleaving his head. It fell to the street with a resounding _thump_, and blood spurted from his neck, covering himself and Sakura in sticky crimson.

His shoulders heaving with deep breaths, Itachi turned to look at Sakura. Their eyes met but seconds before she started to fall.

Konan flew through the treetops, ignoring the branch that scraped against her arm, tearing her cloak and drawing blood. In a huff, she tore her Akatsuki cloak off, unable to stand what it was coming to represent. What was once supposed to stand for peace, for the rising of a new sun over a reformed world, now only symbolized corruption and bloodshed. She did not want to stand for that.

The black, silky material fluttered behind her speeding form, floating down from the higher branches to the forest floor. It was her past, and now she was running towards the future. What used to be did not matter anymore, because it was over. She willed that tears did not gather in her eyes. She could not cry, not until she had killed him.

He was her lover, someone she had grown up with, and the man she had once dreamed of giving children to. Every touch he had given still burned her skin, forever scarring her. She would never escape the feeling of utter despair she felt then, because she loved her past.

Nagato had seen her as something other than a scary, S-class kunoichi. Beneath the scars and threatening expressions, he had managed to see the woman she was. Nagato had somehow seen how lonely she was, how desperate she had been for someone else's love. He had been willing to give her that love, because she knew deep inside, he needed it as much as she had. Every shinobi needed love from another person, otherwise they went completely insane.

Unfortunately, she had not been enough for him to stay sane. Perhaps that hurt more than the fact that she had to kill the one person she had shared herself with. It felt like betrayal, though he had been the first one to betray her. He decided to change who he was, when she loved who he had once been. He had done this to himself, and now he was getting what he deserved.

Flashes of him holding her naked form against his, his hands smoothing over dipping curves and soft skin flew through her mind. Sometimes, he had comforted her when she cried, especially after a desperate, anxious round of lovemaking. Konan had to shake her head at this, to forget the good in his heart that still remained. Those tentative touches would linger for her entire life, even if she did ever move on. Deep within, she knew he still cared, yet never enough to save the world like he always had wanted to.

Silence of the eerily empty forest consumed Konan, and she slowly reached the end. The thick foliage began to fade as she reached a mountain side. It did not take long for her to find the dark cavern Nagato had situated himself in for the battle. He should have been safe, or so he thought, for the length of his ambush on Konoha, being so far from the action, but he was sadly wrong. He could never have suspected that she would come for him.

She quietly stepped into the grotto, her golden-honey eyes already hazed with unshed tears. Nagato did not say anything at first, but instead looked her square in the eyes. His Rin'negan glimmered silver in the poor lighting of the cave, anger and confusing rolling off his withering form in thick, strangling waves. His grey pallor did not come as too much of a shock to her, but it was depressing to see how faded away he really was.

"Explain yourself, Konan." He whispered, those beautiful, silver eyes thinning dangerously. She refused to grovel at his feet though, despite the threat his precious eyes posed. Konan would not show her weakness now, at the end of all times.

She let out a shaky sigh. "I am saving you, Nagato."

He did not seem to understand her statement, or perhaps he was unwilling to accept the fact that he was at a point that required saving. "Saving you from yourself." She added in a whisper. Comprehension struck then, and he gave her a look that she could not interpret.

"You are a fool, Konan. We are finally about to reach our goals, to control this corrupt shinobi world." He growled. She shook her head in disagreement, much to his surprise. She had never been one to question his methods, his reasonings.

"Nagato, we are the one who are corrupting it. We cannot be the ones to control it, to make it better. Your dreams are selfish and singleminded, and will only destroy this world. I cannot allow you to live." Konan murmured, a glare setting in. He was helpless, with the six paths away in Konoha, and his body so deteriorated. Nagato was well aware of this, and they both knew it.

"The ends justify the means, Konan. We decided that together, years ago. We both lost our families, and suffered from the lonely pain few ever experience. If the world is ever to learn peace, then it needs understanding. It will never understand unless it suffers from the same pain. That is why we need the Uchiha, because he put that misery upon himself. He can give that pain better than anyone else, and my cause needs a revolutionary like him."

She had tried, really, she had. It was too much though, for him to speak of such abomination. The tears she had thought she could hold back until the job was finished broke through as if from a dam, flowing freely down her pale cheeks. Konan slowly reached into her weapons pouch for a kunai.

"Leave my ototo alone. Itachi-chan has found happiness, his own peace in that village with the woman he loves, and soon, his child. I will not let you use him for your purposes." Konan retorted, drawing closer. He stared at her, as if meeting her for the first time. Perhaps he was, because she was not going to let him continue, when she had always allowed him to have his way.

She stood immediately in front of him, placing a small, dainty hand over his frail chest, right over his heart. The beating was irregular and faint, but clearly there. She looked up at him sadly, wondering if she could really kill him there, if she could _murder _the man she loved. He looked her in the eye, his dark hair slightly covering his hardened glare. Yes, she could. There was no other option for her. It needed to be done then, while he was still helpless.

"You should know that I always did love you." She breathed, sliding the kunai straight into his chest and through his heart. He gave no response, did not even acknowledge her confession. Blood slowly flowed from his chapped lips, and holding back her sobs, she stood on her toes to peck him on the mouth.

Still, he said nothing, glowering down at her from the machine he was hooked up to. Nagato did not stop his glaring at her, not until he quietly gurgled on blood, drowning himself. The light faded from his eyes, and they slowly drooped shut. Konan did not move away until he let out his last breath.

It was for the best, she decided, if she disappeared for a little while. Her ototo would surely understand if she did not return immediately, would know how it felt to need to figure a few things out. She needed to grieve Nagato's death alone, because no one would comfort her in losing him. Akatsuki was over, and Konan honestly doubted that anyone would bother hunting her down, especially with the help she provided to Konoha.

Konan still had every intention in visiting Itachi some time in the close future; she wanted to meet this little miracle of creation for herself, and get to know his woman better. She smirked to herself, walking out into the fresh air of the forests surrounding Konoha. His lover seemed like a good match for him, and she was pleased by this fact. He needed someone with a backbone, at least if he intended to keep her around.

Tsunade sighed in relief. Akatsuki was officially disbanded. Her only stress now came from a certain, pushy Uchiha Itachi. She understood his concern, naturally, but he was a little over the top. Apparently, when this Pein identity held a blade to her neck, it had broken through the first few layers of skin. There had been a small amount of blood, and then she had fainted from shock.

Now she had a particularly anxious Itachi in her waiting room, emitting a terrifying level of threatening chakra. Obviously, she was in no danger of dying, and neither was their child, but there he sat. Scaring everyone away. It went without saying that his little brother, who was just as capable of scaring patients out of the hospital, was sitting right next to him.

Sighing again, she approached the two brooding Uchiha brothers with her arms crossed over her oversized chest. "Haruno Sakura's room is open for visitors now. You two idiots can stop scaring the shit out of my nurses and patients." She muttered, watching skeptically as they both nearly ran down the hall for her room.

Itachi was first to burst through the door, surprising Sakura. He said nothing, but did not really need to, with the way his eyes inquired her for him. She giggled softly when Sasuke fell into the room closely after his older brother. They lacked common sense for the most part, but they were her boys, and she loved them, quirks and all.

"I am fine you two, I promise. The baby is perfectly healthy, and other than being a little tired, I feel great. You should not worry so much over me." She said, giving them both a reproving glance. Itachi sighed, predictably enough, then carefully sat on the corner of her hospital bed, smoothing the white sheets absentmindedly.

Sasuke took the stool by her bed instead, and watched carefully as his brother and Sakura seemed to communicate through expressions in their face. He had never seen Itachi so worried over someone as he had been for Sakura when she fell. Itachi had been nearly frantic, which was something Sasuke had not expected of his brother. Frantic, and more than that, murderous.

Sure, Itachi had been terrifying the night of the massacre, but he had been mentally stable. When he saw Sakura faint, all sanity had gone out the window, and Itachi had gone crazy on the five other paths of Pein. Watching Itachi make such a bloodbath of Pein had been the most hellish experience of his life. It was humorous to even think he had considered defeating that man once.

Sakura sat up, with the paranoid help of Itachi, and propped herself up against the pillows. Irritated slightly with his reluctance to touch her, as if she were a glass doll, Sakura pulled him closer, and wrapped his arms around her. Fingers stretching over her stomach, Itachi slowly relaxed with her. Sasuke was clearly uncomfortable with the situation, and stood to leave, to give them privacy. Sakura laughed.

"You are such a prude, Sasuke. Go talk to Ino for me, would you? You could use a girlfriend." She said as he left, snorting when she saw the pink of his cheeks. Itachi gave her a curious glance when Sasuke was gone, as if he expected some sort of explanation.

"Ino has been into him ever since he got back. Besides, her fling with Kiba left her disappointed. She has wanted in on the 'Uchiha action' for months. Did you really think I wanted to rebuild the clan all by myself? _Hell, _no." Sakura explained with a huff. Itachi smirked to himself, remembering the time he had suggested she put the two together. Silently, he wondered if she was acting for the benefit of her best friend, or if she just wanted some willing help with clan _matters._

Itachi sighed, moving against her, curling up with her in his arms. Honestly, seeing Sakura almost killed as he had that evening, it had easily been the single most terrifying experience of his life. It was a scary thought, losing the person he cared about more than any other, and it could have easily happened. She would have died if he had not acted on instinct. Itachi was not sure he could survive without her, and that alone was a very foreign feeling for him. He would have been beside himself if she had been killed by that slimy, Akatsuki bastard.

He had to tell himself then that it was over, that there was _no _Akatsuki now, and that its remaining members would hide in the darkest bowels of the missing-nin world. Itachi had no qualms with their hiding, as long as they did not crawl out the woodwork to harm his slowly forming family. Kisame would undoubtedly show up from time to time, as well as Konan, both of them have a closer sort of relationship with him. As for Deidara, Hidan, and the rest of Akatsuki's insufferable members, he hoped they fell from the face of the earth.

Sakura cinched closer to his warm body, twisting in place to face him. She smiled carefully, breaking him from his musings, reaching a soft hand up to cup his cheek. He was tired, and she could tell, no matter how often he would deny it. Itachi was only human, even if he seemed to dismiss his body's need for rest. He reacted to this by resting his arm in the curve of her side.

Their child lay cradled between their bodies, safe from the dangers of the shinobi world. Itachi felt the faint nudging of the fetus, and his eyes were drawn downward to her bulging stomach. It was such a strange thought, being a father, but the majority of him looked forward to the position he was given. The smaller, more cautious part of him was worried over the idea of parenting a child.

What would happen when the child was old enough to ask questions, to wonder why she did not have grandparents like other children did? He did not want to have to tell his own children that he had callously killed his family, and that it was _his _fault they would never know them. Itachi did not want them to fear him because of his sacrifice.

Mentally, he froze for a moment. While his family was gone, Sasuke being the only one exempt to that, _Sakura's was still alive._ Something deep in his chest warmed at that thought. Surely her parents would not be so heartless as to disregard their grandchildren, even if he was a shinobi. He was nothing that they wanted for their daughter, the fact that they had disowned her for being a kunoichi made that clear, but perhaps, if they were willing to at least see them, broken bonds could be mended.

"Sakura, I know it is not something you want to do, but would you object to us meeting with your parents sometime in the near future?" He asked quietly, his tone subdued and thoughtful. She stilled against him, clearly not comfortable with seeing her parents again after so many years. He made note of this, but still waited for her answer.

She knew he must have had a good reason for thinking of this, but was uncertain of what that was. "My parents want nothing to do with me; they do not consider me their daughter anymore. They would never accept us into their home." She whispered back, suddenly very saddened by the thought. She did not think of her parents often, and whenever she did, all it brought was distress.

"Our child will never know my parents. She deserves to at least know yours. If they will not know our children, then it will not be because we never tried." He whispered, his eyes solemn. Sakura let out a deep, shaking breath, seeing his point. Their situation was hard for them both, but they should try to fix problems for their coming daughter.

"Your parents, Itachi. What were they like?" She slowly asked, almost afraid to meet his dark, smothering orbs. His hold on her tightened for a second, and then he spoke gently.

"My mother was very young when she met my father, no more than fifteen, and she married him nearly a year after that. He was a good ten years older than her, but because of clan protocol he agreed to marry her. It was all arranged by the Uchiha, of course, because they preferred that heirs marry within the clan. Neither of my parents could object, even if they did not love each other. My father was a rather uptight and strict man, who did not accept weakness in anything.

"I was born only a few days after my mother turned eighteen. From what I remember of her in my young childhood, she was very caring and kind, and she was more concentrated on being a mother than her status as a jonin. My father was the opposite, he was too busy working for the police force to pay much attention to his family. We were important to him though, even if he had a hard time showing it. I suppose Sasuke and I both inherited his social awkwardness, because he had a hard time dealing with people, his own children included.

"They were not bad people, even if I often butted heads with my father. They wanted what was best for the Uchiha clan, and acted upon that. Perhaps my father had been a little outrageous in his efforts, but he was not evil. Selfish maybe, but not criminally minded. My mother was the sort of woman who believed everything that her husband was right and just, and never disagreed with him. Over the years, she grew to love him, though I am uncertain if my father reciprocated these feelings completely."

Sakura mulled this over, comparing what he had told her to how her parents were. His father sounded like a proud sort of man, who like the feel of control, not unlike her own father. She thought about it, and realized, if the massacre had never taken place, she and Itachi would have never been together. "Your parents would have never approved of me, would they?" She asked numbly.

Itachi sighed. "My father was rather traditional, and so I would have wedded an Uchiha if that massacre had never happened. I do not think we would have ever met, and if we did, nothing would have happened between us. My mother probably would have liked you though, and I do not think she would object to you, if it were not for my father."

She nodded her head, feeling somewhat dejected. Her parents would not approve of Itachi either, they would look down at him for being a shinobi, instead of a pompous business man they wanted her to wed. Sakura shuddered at the memories of the sick man they had originally arranged her to marry, disgust filling her.

"My parents will be difficult, but if that is what you want, then I will introduce you to them." Sakura finally relented, before adding, "They are going to give you a worse interrogation than anything you will ever face from Ibiki. They have a certain hatred for anything that says shinobi, and you just _scream _it."

Itachi chuckled softly, knowing exactly the sort of civilians her parents sounded to be. All civilians had a certain distrust for shinobi, and this was natural; shinobi were raised to kill, but some looked down at their lifestyle choice. They thought themselves to be better than them, based only on the fact that they never had to dirty their hands for their village's sake. Itachi was certain he could handle whatever Sakura's haughty parents had up their sleeves.

"I can dress like a civilian, if you so wish." He teased, his face moving towards hers. She giggled softly when his nose slowly glided along her jawline, then answered, "No; we will not hide the fact that you are a shinobi, even though I am certain you are very capable of doing so. They hate secrets more than even shinobi." She replied as he nuzzled her neck playfully.

"Hmm, so perhaps they hate shinobi so much because of our secrets?" He asked himself, but she shook her head in disagreement. "They hate us because I became a kunoichi. Apparently, you tainted my young, impressionable mind." She corrected. This he could better understand. It was uncommon for a civilian's daughter to become a shinobi because they had no history in that field. Most shinobi tended to hail from clans, much like himself.

"I imagine your parents were not particularly pleased when you announced your intentions to become an kunoichi." He stated thoughtfully. Sakura nodded her head. She laughed sadly, kissing his chin. To say they were unpleased by her decision was an understatement. Her mother had nearly fainted when she heard her five year old daughter tell her she wanted to become a killer, and her father had exploded with anger.

"I was five when I made that decision, and too innocent to know what I was really getting myself into. They were not ignorant of what it meant if I became a kunoichi, and it was understandable that they did not want that life for me. I signed myself up for the ninja academy though, and in the end, they had to accept it; I was rather stubborn, even then. My father was the only civilian in the crowd on my first day."

Itachi smiled to himself, remembering Sasuke's own first day, which was probably hers as well. He had almost declined on an important mission to attend to the meeting, but his father had not allowed it, predictably enough. His father needed him in ANBU, and that particular mission would ensure his entrance into the underground corps of shinobi.

"My brother had some difficulty on that day as well. My father did not give him much attention, at least not as much as he did me. I almost had to attend that meeting for him." Itachi replied.

Silence fell over them for a few minutes, until Sakura pushed lightly on his chest, then sat up. It was nearly midnight, and she did not want to spend the night in the hospital. Itachi seemed to catch on this, because he slowly sat up next to her. He was not sure if it was best if she should leave the hospital yet, but she was the medic, not him.

"Take me home, Itachi." She whispered at last. He nodded, stretching, then carefully slipped his arms under her pregnant form. Masterfully using his foot, Itachi opened the window, opting for exiting that way instead of using the door like a normal person. He gracefully hopped onto the rooftops, holding Sakura closer to his chest to brace the night cold.

The familiar scents of home filled his nose as they entered their shared bedroom through the window. Itachi laid the already-asleep Sakura onto their bed, then curled up with her in his arms.

**AN: Well, this fic is almost finished! There will be only one or two more chapters, depending on whether I write an epilogue or not. I probably will. Review!**


	15. Chapter 15

Itachi sighed to himself, watching as his pregnant lover ignored him, all while pretended to still be asleep. He already was well aware of her little act, and of why she was putting it on. She was trying to put off their visit to her parents. Sure, they may not have gotten along too well, but he did not understand why she was dreading it so much. They were her parents, had created her much as how they had created their developing child.

"Sakura, this is ridiculous. We agreed that when our daughter was born, she would at least be able to know your parents." He said, not bothering to hide his irritation in his tone of voice. It had been a month since discussing such matters at hand, and she was still trying to avoid the encounter. He loved Sakura, much more than he cared to admit, but he was tired of waiting. There were things he wanted to discuss with them, and she was being unnecessarily difficult.

"Your face is ridiculous." She grumbled back, pulling the sheets closer into her curled up figure. Itachi let out a breath of air, then tugged the sheets off her completely. She had, over the course of her pregnancy, become more irritable than usual. He was used to it already, and had early on learned how to blow it off. Petty, childish insults were almost normal, and even Sasuke was no longer fazed by them, considering how often she used them.

She blindly searched for more blankets, for any warmth, and only paused when her hand felt a larger, and much warmer hand. Her eyes opened sheepishly, and she gave him a sly smile. His hand wrapped around hers, and already knowing her own defeat, she sat up. "Do we have to see them _today?_" She asked innocently.

Itachi was not one to be swayed easily. "Yes, we do. We have been putting this off for long enough, and despite previous belief, I am not, by any means, a patient man." He said with a straight face. Sakura sagged visibly. He sighed again, lifting her hand to kiss it. She was smart enough to know her own limits, and it was quite clear that she was not going to avoid seeing her parents today.

"I do not want to see them." She muttered, looking to the side of herself. Itachi was half tempted to laugh aloud at this. Over the past month she had succeeded in steering clear her parents, she had made her feelings for them quite apparent. She took a certain pleasure in hating him, at least as far as he could tell.

Itachi ignored her comment, his gaze falling to her full womb. She was just entering her third trimester, and throughout her second, she had steadily gained a healthy amount of weight. He loved how graceful she looked, full with his child, and often told her as much. She hated how he was always commenting on it, and liked to say she looked as graceful as a drunk, waddling duck.

His free hand ventured to the hem of the tee shirt she had stolen from him at some point, then slipped beneath. Itachi stretched his fingers out, his palm holding her abdomen. There was a small tremor, and he smiled softly to himself. He liked to think that their child was communicating with them somehow. Any child of his, and Sakura's, for that matter, had to be highly intelligent.

Itachi lifted the shirt over her protruding stomach and rolled it up under her breasts, smirking. Her belly button stuck out slightly, and he had teased her about it on more than one occasion. She, naturally enough, always managed to come up with a snappy come-back. His eyes flashed up to hers, then he lowered his head to give her abdomen butterfly kisses.

"Did that persuade you into coming?" He murmured, his calloused thumbs stroking the smooth, stretched-out skin of her stomach. She sighed, then nodded her head. There had not been any question about it in the first place. Uchiha Itachi was not the sort of person who she could ever deny anything.

As if on cue, her stomach rumbled, complaining and begging for sustenance. Sakura blushed in embarrassment, but Itachi chuckled, getting up from the bed, and then offering his hand to help her. Sakura accepted it, and slowly got to her feet with his assistance. She rolled the black material of her shirt down, then followed Itachi from their bedroom to the kitchen.

Sasuke could already tell that Sakura had given in, just by how she was finicky with her breakfast. She was hungry, and everyone knew it, but her nervousness seemed to override that. Finally, she gave up on eating. Sakura stood, then put her dishes in the sink.

Sakura walked down the familiar walked to the front door of her old home, all sorts of different confrontations playing through her mind. None of them were particularly pleasant, and if it were not for the fact Itachi had a restraining hand on her lower back, forcing her to move forward, she would have dashed away from that spot. He _was_ there though, and he was not going to let her get away.

They stood on the front porch, and shared a quick look. Itachi saw that she was not going to be the one to ring the bell, so he did it himself. She bit her lower lip, absentmindedly stroking her stomach as a way of comfort. With their shinobi senses, they could both hear the footsteps on hardwood flooring as someone approached the door, utterly oblivious to who it could be. He casually slipped a hand around her back, and rested it on her hip.

It was a subtle action, but clearly proclaimed possession. Itachi did not want them to guess over who he was, he wanted them to be able to tell he was the father of her child, and with how he stood with her at that front porch, it was clear who he was to Sakura.

Sakura stilled at the mute clicking of gears as the door was unlocked, and her heart jumped into her throat as the door slowly opened. There was a bright, smiling woman on the other side, with long, platinum blond hair and grey eyes. Sakura's mother appeared to be a happy sort of person, yet when she saw her daughter on the other side of the door, her smile slowly fell.

"Sakura, what is going on? I thought your father told you-

Her grey eyes glanced briefly to the tall man standing possessively next to her daughter, and then she froze with surprise when she saw the bulge of Sakura's abdomen. She was not sure of what to say to her daughter, and thankfully, she did not have to say anything, because her husband appeared from behind her. He looked with a blank expression at their anxious, pregnant daughter, then unabashedly met Itachi's eyes.

-to never show your face around here again." He finished for his surprised wife. Sakura stopped bitting her lip, and spoke.

"Kaa-san, Tou-san, I would like you to meet Uchiha Itachi." She said, meeting the honey-golden gaze of her father.

At this simple introduction, they both stilled instinctually, then stared at the tall, silent man. Even civilians knew who Uchiha Itachi was, and like cornered animals faced with a dangerous predator, they feared him. Itachi watched there reaction to his identity, and had to suppress the urge to smirk. They were too shocked to even say anything in his presence. That would certainly make his purpose in being there difficult, so it seemed he had to make a few things clear.

"There are a few things I wish to discuss. Do you mind if we enter?" Itachi intoned politely, his voice just as smooth and velvety as it always sounded. Sakura's parents shared a look, and it was apparent that they were both sorely tempted to take there chances; close and lock the door, and hope to avoid his wrath. The last thing they wanted was _him _in their home.

Yet, he was the sort of person that they dared not refuse. Sakura's father stood to the side, opening the door wider, allowing them room to enter. Itachi gracefully stepped into the threshold, his hand guiding Sakura along. Wordlessly, they were led into a small, comfortable living room. He sat with Sakura on a love-seat, while her parents took the armchairs opposite.

Itachi was the first to speak. "I have no question of what you already know of me; my reputation has the tendency to proceed me. It has already become common knowledge, but in case you are still unaware, I massacred my clan for the sake of this village." He said carefully. They said nothing, instead processing what they had just been told. Sakura did not look at either of them, her gaze fixated downwards on her stomach. She smoothed her fingers over the sweatshirt she was wearing, giving her child more attention than anything else.

"What is your purpose in coming into our home? We have already told Sakura that we never want to see her face again." Her father stubbornly asked, refusing to even look at his pregnant daughter. Sakura was unsurprised by this statement, and after what she had told him, Itachi supposed he should not have been either. Still, it was sad to think that they hated her so much simply because she would not marry a man she did not even know.

"I have a few reasons for coming here to speak with you. The first, and the most important would be that I want our child, when she is born, to know her own grandparents. Our daughter will never know my parents, but she deserves to know you. _You_ do not have the excuse of being dead." He replied calmly, as if utterly at comfort with their sharp glares.

Sakura's father frowned. "She is not our daughter. We have no reason, nor inclination to-

Itachi was quick to interrupt. "That brings me to my second reason in being here. Sakura _is _your daughter. She may not have become the person you wanted her to be, she may have done some things you do not agree with, but that does not change the fact that you are her parents."

To this, her father sputtered on a response, but in the end, had none. Itachi seemed satisfied with his lack of answer, and continued.

"As for my last reason in coming here," Itachi paused, thinking better of it. Instead, he leaned into Sakura's ear. "This is something I need to speak with your parents alone," he whispered softly. She stared at him, wondering if he was completely insane, but then reminded herself that so far, he had pretty much been the one on the offense in the conversation. Grudgingly, she stood, then muttered something about needing to use the bathroom.

She left the room, but stayed in the hall to listen in. Itachi noticed that she was still in hearing distance, even if her parents could not tell the difference. "Sakura, stop eavesdropping. I will talk to you about this later." Itachi murmured. She growled under her breath, then stomped off in a huff. He chuckled to himself, then turned back to her parents, after he was certain she could no longer hear him.

"I have every intention in making your daughter my wife. I would like your permission in doing so."

The dark red hair on her father's head seemed to stand up completely. He may have acted like he did not care for his daughter's future, but Itachi knew that could not be completely true. He had to care at least a little bit, if he was so against the idea.

He did not lash out as Itachi expected though, and instead answered with a sort of proud tone. "Sakura is none of our business. If you want her, then take that little slut."

Itachi sighed in disappointment. "I would prefer it if you did not refer to Sakura as a slut." He started with slight annoyance. "I am perfectly capable of making her my wife without any help or opinion of yours. I already know how she feels about it; what I want is your _blessing_. Either way, Sakura will wed me."

The man looked furious by this statement, but before he could so much as respond, a small, delicate hand shot out and grabbed his. "Tadashi, please. Uchiha-san has a good point. Sakura is our daughter, and her child deserves to know us. I do not want to lose the chance of never seeing my own grandchildren." The woman said softly.

She had never wanted for her daughter to be thrown from the house, though she supposed she could say the same thing about her daughter becoming a kunoichi. Sakura was her only daughter, and as much as she was uncertain about the Uchiha man she had chosen to settle herself with, as her mother, she wanted Sakura to be happy. From what she could tell, this man, despite his past, was very capable of accomplishing that.

"Go and speak with our daughter, Tadashi. I have had enough of your stubbornness." She said to her husband. Itachi was surprised to see the man stand, then proceed down the hall, though he did not let it show.

"My husband is a good man, though a little too obstinate. I suppose you have already figured out where Sakura got her own headstrong attitude." The woman explained with a tired smile. Itachi sighed. Yes, in some ways, Sakura was a lot like her father. In others, at least from what he could tell so far, she was like her mother.

There was a certain calmness about the blond woman, and though few would ever describe Sakura as 'calm,' there were moments, mostly when she was by herself, her hand carefully stroking her stomach, that Sakura shared the same expressions her mother had. Perhaps it was something that came with motherhood, but it was those moments that Sakura secretly shared with their child that he loved most about her. That was not to say he did not enjoy her stubbornness. Sakura was, overall, a very entertaining person.

"He cares very much for his daughter." Itachi agreed.

"I think you might care for her even more than him, Uchiha-san. Otherwise, I do not think you would be asking for her hand." She replied wisely.

Itachi smirked. Sakura's mother was rather insightful, for a civilian. He had forgotten what mothers were like, and now that he was experiencing it firsthand, Itachi found himself missing it. He had not missed his own mother for years, but now, he wished she was still alive. He could picture his mother getting along well with Sakura's, even if they were from different worlds.

It was then that Sakura's father returned, Sakura in tow. They looked as if they might have had a very serious conversation, but Itachi hoped that things were resolved. He guessed that it was, based on the light, cheerful expression on Sakura's face. She sat back down next to him, a smile tilting up her pink lips.

"You have my permission, Uchiha-san."

Their wedding was a short, private ceremony, with the only ones to attend being Sasuke, his newly pronounced girlfriend, Ino, Naruto, Kakashi, and Sakura's parents. Ino had been slightly disappointed by the fact that there would be no big white dress and churches full of friends (she liked the idea of a western wedding), but Sakura explained that at seven months into her pregnancy, she did not want a big ordeal. Ino had relented, then deciding that when she got Sasuke to marry her, they would have a bigger wedding than anyone else. Sasuke had hid his blush subtly by turning his head away.

Tsunade, as the Hokage, had been the one to wed them, and neither Itachi nor Sakura objected to this. Tsunade had slight problems with Sakura's parents, she had always considered herself as Sakura's mother, after she had no children of her own. Kakashi and Naruto both signed the marriage certificate as witnesses, and Sakura had dragged her husband home to help her tear off the unbearable white kimono she had worn to the ceremony.

He had gladly done so, and then had an early wedding night.

_Almost Nine Months _

Sakura stared down at her elephant-sized stomach with slight irritation. It was two weeks from her due date, but at that point, she wanted nothing more than for the baby to get _out_. It could be quite difficult being the size of a blimp, after all. She could not see her own feet, which sometimes, made her clumsy.

Half of the time, all she wanted was to sleep, even if she should have taken a walk every day. Her back hurt from the extra weight, her ankles were slightly swollen from standing too much, and sometimes, because the baby was getting so big, it hurt when she kicked. Their daughter was certainly Itachi's, considering how strong she could kick.

Thankfully, Tsunade had been kind enough to take Itachi off the mission roster at her nine-month mark. Sakura was not sure how she would be able to do anything, if he had not been around. He was actually quite good at helping her around, and did not complain about it once. Itachi was patient with her, and that was all she really needed.

Lately, though, she had felt slightly different. She still did not want to do much, but she felt more energy. She remembered reading about it somewhere in one of her textbooks, at she knew it meant that her body was preparing to give birth. Then there was the painful cramps in her lower abdomen that had only just shown up. She had not expected to feel pain quite like that until she gave birth.

After dealing with it for almost an entire day, she decided to open up one of her textbooks. She was shocked by what she found. Apparently, she was going into labor.

"Itachi! Get your ass in here!" Sakura yelled anxiously. He ignored the 'ass' part, and rushed into the room, hearing the nervousness in her tone. She pointed down at the book, and he read a few lines, before staring back up at her in shock. It was still two weeks early, but he supposed they did not really get to chose the date as much as the baby did.

"You are getting contraptions?" He asked softly. She nodded her head, still staring down at the page in her textbook. Itachi smiled to her, then looped his arms around her body, picking her up. "Then I do believe it is time to go to the hospital." He said calmly.

"Itachi, I have not even packed my bag, I will not have anything, dammit." She complained. The funny thing was, she had been so ready to give birth, and now that was the last thing she wanted to do. She had heard the stories of how painful childbirth could be, whether the mother be a kunoichi or not. No tolerance to general pain helped with what she knew she was about to face.

Itachi ignored her, walking down the hall with her in his arms, then knocked on Sasuke's door with his foot. A few moments passed, then an irritated Sasuke opened the door. His expression changed instantly at seeing Sakura in his brother's arms, and he was immediately concerned instead.

"Sakura is going into labor. I need to take her to the hospital. Can you pack her a bag and bring it over for her?" Itachi asked, still completely composed. Sasuke's eyes widened in surprise.

"Sakura? Wait, what? Yeah, I can, oh my god-

Sasuke was much less together than Itachi was, much to Sakura and Itachi's amusement. He went running down the hall to pull her things all into a bag. Itachi was satisfied by this, and continued calmly out of the house. It was late afternoon, and the time of day when the streets were utterly clogged with civilians and shinobi alike, all trying to get ingredients for their respective dinners.

Due to this, Itachi hopped to the roof tops, deciding to take a different, less complicated route. He speeded like a wraith over Konoha, but Sakura noticed that his expression did not change at all. She knew he had to be at least a little worried about her giving birth, because she sure as hell was. Maybe he just had complete confidence in her.

The nurses, much like Sasuke had, jumped into action. They all knew what this birth meant; it was the child to both their superior, and one of the strongest shinobi in their village. If something went wrong during her birthing, then they would be the ones held responsible. They would much rather not deal with a furious Hokage, or even more terrifying, the father of the child.

A room was quickly prepared for her, and once appeased with the room's setup, Itachi carefully lay his wife on the pristinely white sheets. He pulled a chair next to the hospital bed, then took her hand. There was not much else he could do for her, and he knew as much.

It could have been minutes, or it could have been hours; Sakura could not tell, but seemingly spontaneously, she felt something break. Liquids soaked into the sheets, and she gasped in shock. A nurse stuck her head out of the room.

"Get Tsunade-sama! Her amniotic sac just ruptured!"

There was an onset of pain, as another, much more horrible contraction took place. Sakura's hold on his hand tightened, but he did not seem to notice her grasp, instead, keeping a steady gaze with her. It ended though, leaving her gasping.

The clicking of her heels could be heard from down the hall, and as soon as Tsunade entered the room, she took charge of the situation. She took a clipboard from an especially queazy nurse, taking in information.

"How far is she dilated?" She asked absentmindedly.

"She only just made one centimeter, but now that her water broke, her contraptions should come faster." A nurse answered dutifully. Tsunade rolled her eyes, figuring that much from her own knowledge. She shooed the nurses out of the room, then smirked at her young apprentice.

"You do realize that this is only just begun, right? It may be a good eight or nine more hours before you can even start pushing." Tsunade said dryly, her arms crossed. Sakura groaned in exasperation, then turned to Itachi for some sort of solace. From what he had seen so far, it was a painful process, and she certainly had his sympathy.

Just as Tsunade had predicted, it took several more hours for her to dilate to ten centimeters. Sakura had thought that part was awful, but then came the part when she had to push. Her screams could be heard throughout the birthing ward, and though he hardly even showed it, Sakura could tell it unnerved Itachi to see her in such pain. He stayed by her side the entire time though, matching her tight grip with every wail.

It was only when her cries were replaced by that of a shriller voice that everything seemed to freeze in space. Those five minutes it took for the nurses to wash and swaddle the newborn, Itachi had never felt to disconnected, so numb. It was shock, and he knew it, because now, he was a father. He and Sakura had been looking forward to the date their child was born, but now that it had taken place, everything seemed so surreal.

Then, for the first time, he saw her. She had little tufts of silky, black hair sticking out from the baby blanket, clearly an Uchiha trait. The nurse handed the whimpering newborn to him, as he was closest, and she opened her eyes, as if already knowing who he was. Shock took hold of him, and he could not help but to stare right back into the familiar charcoal orbs. They were filled with intelligence, more than he expected from the newborn.

"Itachi, let me see her." Sakura finally whispered, breaking him from his trance. She sat up in the bed, using a pillow as support for her back, and reached her arms out. Itachi sat on the corner of the bed next to her, then gently, as if he was afraid of breaking her, he lay her in Sakura's arms.

She gasped down at the child, surprised by his familiar features. "God, Itachi, she is beautiful. She looks _just _like you."Sakura said excitedly, looking up into his eyes for some sort of approval. He seemed to be just as happy as she was, and kissed her sweaty forehead.

"She has your forehead though. Seems it was a dominant trait." He murmured back. She laughed, just as he knew she would, then her gaze fell back to the newborn in her arms.

Life was such an amazing thing, and only nine months previous, he had been perfectly willing to throw that away. If he had never met Sakura in that grungy bar, if he never had made love to her that night, he was certain that he would be dead. He would never have had a child, never would have understood how precious life was, never have comprehended how powerful _love _was. Sasuke would have killed him, and _he _would be in his place instead.

"What did you want to name her again?" Sakura asked, her voice almost distant.

His response was automatic. "Her name is Uchiha Aiko." _Love Child_.

**AN: And so all that is left is the epilogue. Sad, I know. The story is practically finished. Oh, and I've never had a baby ^^ so if what I wrote is inaccurate, I apologize. Research can only get you so far.**

**I know that at the end of **_**Something New**_**, I promised you guys a new chapter fic, and that has not started yet. After much deliberation, I have decided that I can only write ONE chapter fic at a time. At one point, I was writing three, and that killed me. Besides, then chapters come out faster, and bla bla bla bla bla bla... you get the idea.**

**REVIEW!**


	16. Epilogue

She frowned slightly at the small pile of gifts there were stacked on the kitchen table. It was her fourth birthday, and there was something special she had wanted to celebrate. Yet, it was already clear that she was not going to get it. She had begged her father, and he had promised to try, but perhaps that had not been good enough. What more did she have to do?

"Aiko-chan! Come help me outside!" She heard her mother call. Aiko sighed, masking her disappointment, then followed the sound of her mother's voice.

Sakura smiled down at her daughter as she approached. Aiko's first three birthdays had been small occasions, but she knew Aiko wanted something bigger. Itachi was not pleased with the idea of a group of loud, sticky-handed children in their home, but for their daughter, he had agreed to it. Sakura had no idea _how_ they had produced such a quiet child, though Itachi considered it a blessing. She was certain he had been just as silent when he was young, and just to spite him, she hoped that, whenever it should happen, their next child was loud and rambunctious.

"When is everyone coming?" Aiko asked calmly. The similarity between her and her father were almost humorous.

"It said noon on the invitations, honey. They should start coming in a half hour." She replied, handing her daughter a handful of plastic forks to arrange around the table set up in the yard for cake. There were a few children that, over the past few years, Aiko had gotten to know from playing in the park. They were civilian children, for the most part, but they were still too young to be scared of shinobi, and hardly knew what it meant to become one.

Itachi was skeptical over the friendships their daughter chose to form with the civilians, knowing very well how it could go when they grew older. It was not that he did not want his daughter to have friends, but more that he wanted to protect her. Civilians, from what he could tell, did not like their children around those from shinobi families. They were judgmental, and he did not want Aiko to be exposed to their callousness.

"Where is Tou-san?" Aiko questioned slowly, having finished setting the forks on the table. Sakura sighed, then gave a reassuring smile.

Itachi had managed to land himself with a week-long mission, and he should be able to return home in time for Aiko's birthday, not that Sakura was too worried. She had full confidence that her husband would not miss their daughter's party for the world, no matter how much he detested obnoxious children.

"He will be home soon, honey. Your Tou-san promised to be here." Sakura replied lightly, stroking the midnight-black hair on Aiko's head. It really was a shame, in her opinion, that her daughter had inherited her broad forehead. Sakura had taken it upon herself though to make sure Aiko never faced what she had as a child. She had kept that red ribbon Ino had given her all those years ago, and now her own daughter had it tied on the crown of her head, proudly displaying her forehead.

As if on cue, Itachi hopped over the wall surrounding their home, Sasuke following shortly behind. Just as he always did after returning from a mission, he wordlessly approached Sakura, removed his ANBU mask, then reached down and gave her a chaste kiss. Aiko stood next to her parents, watching the occurrence, then tugged impatiently on her father's pants.

Sasuke struck a conversation on their mission with Sakura, and Itachi kneeled down to Aiko's level. She was pouting, and he could not say that he was surprised. She was expecting something of him, and he had failed to get it for her. Of course, it was not fully his fault, as he was gone for a good week.

"Tou-san, what about my present?" She asked. Itachi sighed, thinking of a response. It was not as if he could really tell her how to get what she wanted so badly, she was not ready for that sort of knowledge. Being so busy with ANBU missions, it was hard to have a good chunk of time with just his family, and there was even less time he spent with just his wife.

"I could not get it yet. You are going to have to wait a little longer. I will talk to you about it more later on, after the party." He finally said, standing up again. She nodded her head, and gave him a look that showed how determined she was to get what she wanted. Itachi could not really blame his daughter; he felt exactly the same in that matter.

Giving Sakura another quick kiss, he went into the house for a nice, long shower as preparation for the chaos he expected to come with a party of twenty, four year old children.

Ino had been the first to arrive, with a change of clothes for Sasuke. Sakura had yet to figure out how their relationship had lasted for so long. It must have been important to Sasuke though, because Sakura knew they were engaged, even if no one else did yet. Ino was known to be rather pushy, but for Sasuke to be vulnerable to that was rather surprising. She knew he was not _that _desperate to top Itachi, when it came to the number of children he had, even if they did have a heavy bet going.

Sakura was happy for her friend though, because she knew how much Sasuke meant to her, no matter how often Ino nagged him.

The next time Sakura went to answer the door, there seemed to be all the children they had invited waiting on the other side. There were a few nervous looking parents standing behind the group, rightfully wary of entering a shinobi home. Sakura gave them a warm, welcoming smile though, hoping to assure their safety. They seemed a little more comfortable with that, but still were slightly anxious when walking through the door, unlike the children.

Aiko led the way into the backyard, where the children started to play. Members of the rookie nine dropped in to wish Aiko a happy birthday, but for the most part, she was busy with her friends. They started playing games Sakura remembered playing at the same age, and she had half the mind to join in. She refrained herself when realizing her husband was no where to be seen.

Grumbling to herself, Sakura walked back into the house, calling his name. He did not answer, and figuring he was not on the first floor, she proceeded up the stairs. She finally found him lounging on their bed, cradling a book in his hands. Frowning, she tapped her fingers to her hip.

"Itachi, what are you doing up here? The party is going on downstairs. If Aiko noticed you were missing, she would be upset." Sakura reprimanded softly. He grunted in agreement, then snapped the book shut. He lazily looked up to her, his eyes scanning her body scandalously. Sakura held back the blush threatening to burst from her cheeks.

"How was Aiko today?" He asked, changing the subject at hand abruptly. Sakura sighed, stepping into their room. She crossed it, then sat next to him on their bed.

"She seemed upset about something earlier, almost as if she were disappointed. She is fine now though, playing with her friends." Sakura replied, watching as he stood, then shut the door. She said nothing about this though, figuring he had a perfectly good reason.

"She was disappointed because she did not get what she wanted for her birthday." Itachi told her softly. Sakura looked at him in confusion, not understanding how their daughter could have possibly known what she did, or in this case, did not, get for her fourth birthday. Of course, there was that one thing that Aiko refused to tell her about once.

"She told you what she wanted?" She asked curiously, edging closer to him on their bed. Itachi gave her a small smirk. Yes, he certainly knew what his daughter wanted of them. He, for one, agreed completely with Aiko. It was definitely time for another addition.

Itachi, unusually impatient, picked her up then settled her in his lap. "Yes, she told me." He answered, his dark eyes burning lustfully as he licked his lips anxiously. They space between them quickly closed in as he crashed his lips upon hers. Sakura did not resist at first, until remembering the party full of children just downstairs. Her breathing already heavy, she turned her head away, effectively breaking the kiss.

"Itachi, why cannot this wait until later? Aiko's party is still going on, and I am certain you have the patience to hold off until tonight." She whispered, trying to steady her breath. Again, Itachi smirked, then shook his head in disagreement. He promised something to his daughter, and he had every intention in trying, right there and then.

"Aiko will not mind. In a way, this is what she wanted." He said haughtily. Sakura begged to differ.

"I seriously doubt our daughter wanted us to have sex during her birthday party."

His smirk widened in satisfaction. "Perhaps not, but what she _does _want is a younger sibling. _That_ is what she asked me for, and was disappointed when she did not get one."

Sakura stared at him in astonishment. As the idea of being pregnant sank in, the thought of carrying Itachi's child again, Sakura could do nothing but sit silently. Slowly a smile pulled the corners of her mouth upward. She liked the thought very much, and Itachi knew it. With that wordlessly decided, he leaned back down to catch another kiss.

There was no hesitation on her part this time, her hands blindly searching to find their places around his neck and in his long, silky hair. Strong arms encompassed her, his spicy, masculine scent swallowing her whole. She had missed the feeling of him holding her like this, the way he always made her feel so complete.

It had been a lonely week without him; sleeping alone in their bed every night, then waking up to see his side empty, unruffled and cold. Since giving birth to Aiko, Sakura had been given less missions, and more work in the hospital. When she did have missions with a team, Tsunade was always careful to be sure Itachi would be home to care for Aiko.

Not feeling nearly close enough with their embrace, Itachi cinched her closer into his muscular chest, then nibbled lightly on her lower lip. Sakura moaned in appreciation, and Itachi was quick to take advantage of this, slyly gliding his tongue in her mouth alongside hers. Again she groaned, this time in acceptance to his forward actions. Sakura had missed, in that short week, the sweet taste he left in her mouth after every kiss, and the way that he always left her utterly breathless.

Almost suddenly, the positions changed, and Sakura found her back pressed into their bed, Itachi's larger form hovering over hers. Long, slender fingers took the zipper to her vest, then slowly, almost agonizingly, trailed all the way down from her neck. His mouth slowly followed after, pausing to kiss the soft skin between her breasts.

Her back arched in pleasure, nearly-silent gasps escaping through her lush lips. It had felt like forever since he had done something like this to her, though it had been little over a week. Sakura supposed that this sort of obsessive addiction to him was unhealthy, but she was past the point of caring. Itachi was her lover, her husband, and the father of her child. He was everything, and deserved the amount of attention she gave him.

She could feel his lips upturn against her over-sensitized skin in response to her reaction, clearly amused by it. These little smirks was his main way to tease her, and she was aware of that much, and she ignored it. In the end, Sakura knew that he was just as consumed with her as she with him. They were the only ones capable of feeding each other's appetites, and that was just fine with them.

Her own swollen lips tilted upwards out of his line of sight into a smirk of appreciation, and as if to show her own impatience to get down to _business_, her dainty hands ventured to the seam of his shirt. She did not hesitate in tearing it from his body, and her viridian eyes took in each and every ripple of muscle. Though Itachi was, over all a rather slender man; his hips were narrow, his limbs long and almost wiry, he was muscular as well. She loved the way his pants would only just barely hang on his pelvis, the muscles of his stomach taut, and thin, black hairs trailing up to his navel.

She loved his beautiful, powerful body, but then there was his eyes. They had this way that they pierced into everything, unavoidable and deadly, but when they looked at her, she saw something no one had the privilege of seeing. He was a man so full of _love_, though only a few years previous, no one would have thought him capable of it. He had changed so much since returning to Konoha, even though most could not tell.

Sakura let out a shaky sigh as one of his hands reached up to mold an unbound breast, the other straying down her abdomen. Not caring much what he did with his sinful hands and mouth, Sakura reached up, letting loose the long hair he had tied neatly and flowing down his strong back. It cascaded down around them, framing their faces in a curtain of silky, deep black.

His face hovered over hers, both of them looking one another in the eye. He was happy, and she knew it, just by the gleam in his deep, smothering orbs. The prospect of being the father to another child pleased him, and once the idea had sunk in, Sakura liked the thought just as much. There was something about carrying his child that brought her inexplicable joy, and to be able to experience that again was favorable.

Pregnancy, generally, was not pleasant; there was pain and too many restrictions, but there was something in the way he would look at her that made her feel so happy. It was as if nothing she could ever do could possibly make him more proud. It could have been a sense of masculine fulfillment, because he was completing his role as a man. It could have been that he was rebuilding his near-extinct clan after he had been the one to annihilate it. Either way, his pride pleased her.

Following her train of thought with a smug expression, Itachi broke her out of it by reconnecting the link between them; leaning down to give another searing kiss. Sakura readily accepted it, not bothering to wait for him to ask before reaching her own tongue and sliding it against his lower lip. It was rather rare when she showed any sort of dominance, mostly because she never could beat him, and he welcomed her forward actions, parting his lips for her to divulge.

She hummed softly at his truce, taking the rare opportunity to do as she wished. He subtly began to tug on her skirt, slowly taking it off her while she was so preoccupied with what she was doing. Once he had managed to slip it off her long, slender legs, they wrapped themselves about his hips, her core already instinctively searching for his familiar heat.

His passiveness did not last as long as she wished it did, but it worked out for her in the end. Sakura twisted her hips against him in an agonizingly slow routine, nudging him playfully. Itachi grunted softly into her mouth at her teasing, his dark eyes hazing over with perceptible lust. Sakura groaned with the heavy gaze he kept focussed on her, unable to hold it back from him.

She had wanted this occurrence to be a slow, passionate lovemaking, but their joint patience for one another was growing short. This alone in mind, Sakura snuck her nimble fingers to his belt, unbuckling it, then jerking his pants down. His eagerness just as great as her, Itachi kicked them off entirely, and Sakura was pleased to see he had not put on boxers earlier. He, however, had more work cut out for himself, as she was still in her black thong.

A long, thin finger hooked around the offending material, then with no uncertainty, ripped it off. Sakura had been about to complain about his ruining a perfectly good thong, but it was utterly forgotten when she felt him mockingly prod her throbbing entrance with his hardened manhood. He was teasing her, and she knew it. A frustrated moan sounded in the silence of their bedroom at his toying.

She could feel him against the inside of her silky thigh, and he was making her ache for him to fill her, she could tell. Sakura was already soaked, she could smell the spicy scent of her own arousal. All she wanted was for him to stop putting off the inevitable. Itachi was being stubborn for some reason though, and she was half tempted to turn him over onto his back and ride him.

Before she could so much as act upon this thought process though, he alined himself, and slid himself into her. She gasped in surprise, not having anticipated it. With a soft groan, she readjusted her hips to make room for his girth, then moaning again as he slipped out. He smirked with satisfaction against her lips, his mouth moving down from hers to the junction of her neck and shoulder. Itachi lapped at the sensitive spot, thrusting in again.

Pleasantly filled, her hips bucked, blunt nails kneading into his back muscles. He grunted, listening to her heavy breathing, entering her farther with each propulsion into her tight cavern. Sakura wanted to cry out in pleasure, but she held it back when remembering that there was still a birthday party going on downstairs. The last thing either of them wanted was a bunch of children stalking up to their bedroom to figure out where the noise was coming from.

Instead, she maneuvered slightly, until her lips reached his already-sweaty shoulder, and she bit down. He gasped in surprise, but did not so much as pause as he sheathed himself into her again. It helped, and as the need to scream became more pronounced, her teeth clenched tighter, silencing her effectively. Sakura only hoped she did not draw blood.

His pace quickened in desperation, and in result, Sakura felt herself start to climb in pleasure. Itachi panted quietly from the exertion; even as an accomplished shinobi, this always managed to exhaust him. She listened to him as his hot, steamy breath fanned her, that feeling of being utterly high growing stronger.

It steadily grew, until she reached her limit, and she was violently hit with the blinding pleasure he always gave her. Eyes squeezing shut, she felt her walls convulse around his length, milking him. Itachi followed her orgasm quickly, grunting softly as he released; his hot, sticky seed spewing into her, filling her to the brim.

Sakura smiled up at him in a sort of drunk satisfaction, tired and sated after the nearly frantic lovemaking. Catching his breath, he smirked down at her, looming over her with his smug expression. Itachi grew limp, and wearily exited her, curling up next to her, and feeling quite content. He gave her face innocent kisses, praying to himself that they had succeeded in what they had set out to do. It would be shocking if she had _not _conceived, and this pleased him.

"I do believe that we have a birthday party to manage downstairs." Itachi murmured calmly after a few moment's silence. Sakura groaned in exasperation, and he knew that the sound was from her not wanting to get up, yet it was almost enough to excite him again. "Sakura, do not make noises like that again, unless you want me to start another round." He told her haughtily.

She twisted in his arms to face him fully, and though she was unable to hide the knowing smile on her face at his threat, she smacked him. "If you are uncertain _that_ was not enough to get me pregnant, then you can wait until tonight." Sakura replied wisely.

She sat up, her eyes searching the room for her clothes. Sakura still needed a new thong though, and so she stood and made her way to the dresser. She slipped one on after finding a pair identical to the first, then threw Itachi a pair of boxers, since he had forgotten to put one on earlier.

Propped up onto his elbows, Itachi watched in amusement as she collected the clothes that had been scattered about the room, putting on whatever was hers as she went. He sighed, tugging the boxers she had tossed him on, then stood to join her. Sakura handed him his clothes, and they both quickly dressed, hoping that they had not been too missed. It had been almost an hour since Sakura had gone off in search of her reclusive husband.

They returned to the party in the same appearance as when they had left, though their hair in slight disarray. It would not have been noticeable to the civilians over, but to the shinobi, it was quite obvious what they had been doing. If it was not for their ruffled hair, then it was the scent that lasted.

No one bothered to say anything to either of them, not even Ino, who was more prone to gossip than most. The party ended after the cake was consumed, and Aiko's friends eventually went back to their own homes. Their daughter was overall pleased with her fourth birthday party, though she did not have a sibling as her father promised.

Guests gone, and Aiko happily inspecting the gifts she had recieved, the small family sat in their living room, Itachi and Sakura observing their daughter. Sakura curled up against him on the couch, stroking her flat stomach wistfully. Itachi had a sturdy arm around her, his hand resting over hers as he watched her hopeful actions. He nuzzled her neck, a soft smile breaking through. She giggled to herself, accepting his affections happily.

Aiko glanced up cautiously at her parents, who were acting much more demonstrative than usual. She had seen them _cuddle _before in the past, but she could sense that it was different this time. Aiko was not sure how, but it was not the same as how they usually acted together. She was honestly unsure of what to think of it.

She glanced minutely at the small collection of wooden shuriken her uncle had given her, then back to her doting parents. Aiko decided that they were more interesting, and got to her feet. She stood in front of the couch, staring at her parents in bewilderment. They both paused in confusion, turning to their daughter.

"What is it, Aiko-chan?" Sakura asked in a concerned tone, her hand stilling momentarily. Aiko continued to stare at them, a slender eyebrow lifting delicately. Sakura had a hard time holding back her laughter, having seen the same expression on Itachi's face numerous times. She managed though, waiting for her daughter's response.

"You and Tou-san are acting different." She replied bluntly, with clear perception and wariness. Sakura turned to Itachi for some sort of help, but he was not very helpful. She was forced to turn back to Aiko, while trying to think of something to say. She eventually supposed that she should just tell the truth, when Itachi spoke for her.

"Your Kaa-san might be pregnant." Itachi said softly, gaging her reaction. Aiko's dark eyes widened, and then a smile broke out. Her parents could easily tell that she wanted to jump into their laps for joy, but did not want to be rude. Sakura laughed, opening her arms to make room. Only then did Aiko happily curl between Itachi and Sakura.

She sighed, and her parents moved back to how they were. After a long day, it did not take long for Aiko's eyes to droop tiredly, and for her to lull herself to sleep. Interruptions, however pleasant they were, gone, Itachi smirked playfully, his nose running back under her jawline.

"Do you think she had a good birthday?" Sakura asked, feeling about as tired as her daughter. Itachi smiled to himself, still nuzzling his wife playfully.

"Yes, I think she did." He whispered back, his hold tightening around his little, happy family.

_The End_

**AN: OMG. I cannot believe I finished this! I feel happy with the ending (I wanted it to go out with a bang, LOL). This is so far the second chapter fic I have finished, and I would like to thank all the readers who have stuck with it until the end! At first, I was not sure how this was going to go, but I am glad with how it ended up. I got much more reviews than I thought I would; over 100! If you liked this, I encourage you to check out my other fics, and let me know what you think. Review one last time!**


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